September 18, 1995 Orem, Utah

Dearest John & Julianna; Roy, Patrice, Emily, Timothy & Jesse; Bob, Claire, Michael, Laura & Brett; Rick, Jean, Ricky, Barbara Jean, Mary Ann & Sarah; and Ron, Ann, Susanna, Jessie, LeeAnna & Jimmy:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RICK TODAY!!! I hope you are having a wonderful day with some hot dogs and a great big birthday cake!!!

This is my favorite time of year - lots of fresh vegetables and fruits and cool weather. I am wearing a jacket and would like to turn my furnace on but it's a little early and it gets hot later on in the day. I am tempted to drive to Brigham City to get some peaches - I have bought a lot here but I understand the ones they have in Brigham City this year are very, very good.

I hope you are all doing good. I have talked to Ann and also to John on the phone but I haven't heard from the rest of you. I called Ann on Saturday and they had just come home from a soccer game and they were getting ready for football games and violin recitals - busy, busy, busy!!!

My neighbor, Vontella Smith, had a lawn wedding reception for her granddaughter on Saturday night (actually her daughter, Christy, had been here from Idaho for two weeks preparing for it because it was for her daughter). I couldn't be here so I called to see if John & Julianna would like to spend the evening here and take care of the dogs so they wouldn't bark and also turn on my backyard lights. They were on their way to the cabin so they couldn't comer over. I hope they had a good time and the deck paint didn't get all over their shoes.

I went back to the cabin last Tuesday to finish painting the deck. I was disappointed because the floor paint was peeling - I don't know what I did wrong unless I painted it while the sun was hot on it. I may have used the wrong kind of paint. ANYWAY - I finished painting the railing and I hope it didn't peel. I went up in the morning and came back that evening - I had to work at the Welfare cannery on Wednesday so I couldn't spend the night. There weren't many people fishing so maybe it's all fished out.

Our ward is having "neighborhood dinners". I went to Bro. & Sister Ringger's home on Friday night and had such a good time. Sister Ringger fixed grilled chicken breasts and then each person brought a dish to go with it - I cut fresh corn off the cob and baked it in cream. I spent a lot of time making it and really it didn't taste any better than canned corn. The Ringgers spent three years in Switzerland where he was President of the Swiss Temple. When they came home three years ago they completely remodeled their home and had their yard professionally landscaped - it is all beautiful. They said they spent more money landscaping their yard than they did to buy their home thirty years ago. Hilde Ringger is a wonderful artist!!!

I went to Salt Lake on Saturday afternoon. My High School friends, Emma Lou and Mel Thayne, have a summer home in Parley's canyon and they have a get together annually for their "old" friends. We really had a good time but the menu was very different. He told me to bring hors douerves and I believe he told everyone the same thing - he cooked chicken on the grill and then we put everything on the table - it was all cold dips and spreads but it was good. I took that Mexican layered dip with chips. Mel Manning is surely getting crippled up - he has arthritis in his hip and has a hard time getting around.

I had a phone call from Ramona this morning. I went to see her one day last week because I haven't heard from her for awhile. She looks SO good but I can tell she is getting fragile in her health. She called to tell me that Elaine was in an automobile accident last night. Elaine's daughter Kim was in the hospital and she went to see her and it was dark - Elaine really shouldn't be driving even in the daytime. She was involved in a three car accident and has a broken leg, broken ribs, broken wrist and I don't know what else. Kim is in VERY BAD shape mentally and when she is released from the hospital they will have to find a place for her to live, probably as a ward of the state. This has needed to be done for quite awhile and Elaine just couldn't bring herself to do it. Elaine's son, Matt, who is an attorney told Ramona he was going to take care of it. I will go see Elaine tomorrow - I feel SO bad for her. She was so loved by Lynn - if he were still alive he could help her.

I am on the program committee for the Orem Women's Club this year. We are presenting the programs for the year in a special meeting on Wednesday and I have to go to a rehearsal in a few minutes. We are portraying artists and I am supposed to wear an oversize shirt backwards and hold a painter's palette with a brush. I REALLY hate things like this but if I'm going to belong to the club I guess I have to participate!!!

I love each one of you so very much. PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO and let me know how I can help you!!!
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