May 13, 1996 Orem, Utah
Dearest John & Julianna; Roy, Patrice, Emily, Timothy & Jesse; Bob, Claire, Michael, Laura, Brett & Katie; Rick, Jean, Ricky, Barbara Jean, Mary Ann & Sarah; and Ron, Ann, Susanna, Jessie, Russell, LeeAnna & Jimmy:
I hope each one of the wonderful Mothers in our family had as nice a Mother's Day as I did yesterday. I can't tell you how very much I appreciate all your remembrances of me - I just LOVE being your Mother!!! The first Mother's Day after Daddy died is one I will always remember and I have probably mentioned this lots of times. Ann encouraged me to buy a red and white polka dotted dress to wear - she said, "it is a happy dress". Well - I wore it that day and everyone complimented me on it so I have worn it every Mother's Day since and yesterday as I conducted in Relief Society I said if I gained any more weight I wouldn't be able to wear it and would have to stay home on that day - Ha!!!
Roy had come home from Little Rock and had been with me that week to do "anything I wanted him to do" and he did many things such as getting my van ready to sell and advising me about taking my Camry in for the 30,000 mile checkup and also taking me to the cabin for the first time after Daddy's death. Anyway, he had to leave the morning of Mother's Day and John took him to the airport. John had been living home to help take care of Daddy for that year. On the way going to church I had a flat tire - the first one I have ever had. When I got home from church the house was SO empty - John had moved out and Roy had gone home. John had fixed my tire and someone from the church had brought me home. I was SO happy that Ann had planned a Mother's Day dinner for that evening. When I look back on that time I am grateful that things get easier in many respects as time goes on. I truly love and appreciate my family and I want you to know that!!!
I also want to congratulate John & Julianna on their 2nd Wedding Anniversary on May 7th - last Tuesday. I had notes all over the house to remind me to call them and then I forgot - I know I don't remember all of your anniversaries but theirs is SO recent. I had a board meeting that night - there are TOO many things to remember so I don't worry about the things I forget and I just hope you will understand!!!
I went to the Weinert's home for dinner yesterday after church. It was JUST WONDERFUL and I must tell you about the dessert my dietitian daughter made - it was SO good I dreamed about it all night. It was called chocolate truffle cake. It had nine eggs, a whole block of baking chocolate and sugar - I believe that was all - no flour! It was made in a spring form pan and it was just heavenly - frosted with "lite" cool whip - Ha!!! I am usually looking for something to snack on before I go to bed but I was completely satisfied six hours after their dinner. Mary Ann showed me her "scrapbook" she had made for an English Class she is taking and it would win a prize - she is one talented young woman. She used the theme of "weaving her life with pieces of fabric" and tied in each phase of her life with thread and different fabric pieces. She has written some of the most beautiful poems and she included those along with pictures of events in her life from birth up to her age now. It is a real "heirloom" and has inspired me to get busy with my book.
Last Monday morning, Jeannie called to tell me that Ricky was playing in a tennis tournament in Salt Lake. I have never seen him play and wanted so much to see him in this tournament so Jeannie gave me the address and the time and everything. He was supposed to play at 3 o'clock so I left home about 1:30 so I could run some errands on the way. Jeannie called at 2 o'clock to tell me he wouldn't play until the next morning at 9 o'clock. I wasn't home to get her message so I went to Salt Lake. I got to the tennis courts just as Ricky was leaving and we were both disappointed - sometime I hope to see him play.
Roy - I LOVED your phone message and the voice of little Jesse - I won't erase that for a long time!!!
It is SO fun to hear about all the activities of Susanna & Jessie - the prom and the senior dance in Park City. Susanna has been taking the advance placement tests for college this past week. I am SO glad I am as old as I am and don't have to take tests anymore. She is SO smart but sometime young people don't test as well as they should because of all the stress. What a WONDERFUL year Susanna & Jessie have had and next year will be even more fun. There will be a lot of changes in their schools - Russell will go to Timpview and Lee Anna to Junior High. Ann wanted me to mention the "Stadium of Fire" on July 4th in my letter. She will get 6 tickets for the Weinerts, 2 for the John Mellors, 5 for the Roy Mellors and 1 for me unless she hears differently. Claire and the children will be at Aspen Grove that week and Bob says he is going to go fishing somewhere. Donny Osmond, Kurt Bestor and the local Calvary Baptist Church Choir will be the performers - they are not having big name entertainers this year but the thing the children enjoy the most will be the fireworks display and the local artists are certainly very, very good. WE APPRECIATE YOU ANN and we will plan the food for the dinner later.
Byrd Gordon, from Scofield, called me last Thursday. He said, "We turned the water on and YOU HAVE A BIG PROBLEM". I asked him what I needed to do and he said he would take some pipes up on Saturday to try to fix it - he said the pipe under our drive way had broken. I had visions of having to tear up the cement and all kinds of things. THEN I remembered how Byrd always exaggerates things and just wants recognition for the little things he does up there. I called John on Saturday morning and he said he would try to go up there to see what needed to be done. I talked to Julianna last night and she said by the time they got up there it was all fixed. I called Byrd to thank him and he said they had put a valve somewhere and replaced the pipe but it wasn't a big deal. WHAT A CHARACTER!!! John didn't turn the water on in the cabin - he said he wanted to wait until Bob could go up there with him. Rick said he would like to take his children up there over the Memorial Day weekend and I hope it can be "Summerized" by then - I don't dare turn the water on in the cabin after the disaster I caused last Fall. I HOPE SO MUCH THAT THE CABIN WILL BE USED THIS SUMMMER - Byrd said our neighbor, Rudy, had caught a limit of trout on Saturday.
I am SO excited about my party on Saturday. All the people I REALLY want to come have acknowledged that they will be here - Marian and Malcolm are the only ones who can't and they are going to Palm Springs for a baptism for one of their grandchildren. I went to Lehi on Friday and talked to Carl Mellor about the food!! Carl is very nice to me - he is certainly a stalwart member of the John Mellor line of the family and he does a lot of genealogy that means a lot to the James Mellor side too. He has expanded his reception center so I guess it is very successful - it isn't as high class a place as the "Colonial House" on main street that used to be the Racker Mercantile but it is nice. His son is a consulting engineer and he has built some buildings right in back of the reception center. Carl used to own the property where all the commercial buildings have been built next to the freeway in Lehi - I hope he didn't sell too soon!!!
I have never had a party like this and I am a little nervous about the food - I keep wanting to prepare things. I told Carl to plan for 35 - chicken cordon bleu, waldorf salad, green salad, broccoli and cauliflower blend, potatoes au gratin, rolls and butter, fruit punch and strawberry shortcake. Jean & Rick and Julianna said they will come be with me and I hope the Woolleys will too - John will be in Los Angeles and I feel like Bob has too many other things on his mind. The man who is going to entertain for me will be special - I am counting on him to be worth the trip so many of them are making - some are coming from Logan and some from Bear River and a lot from Brigham City. My neighbors are SO helpful - the church youth group came to help Vontella weed her yard on Saturday. I told them I had a personal interest in asking them to do that because she had a dandelion patch next to my fence and I was having a party. SO they came over and used the weed eater to clear all the grass along the fence between me and the college. Shawna Theobald called me this morning and said they would be sure to have their yard mowed and cleaned up and they would put their dog inside.
Claire and Laura are in England with Claires' parents. They left on Thursday and will be home next Sunday - what a fun thing to do. Bob, Claire, Laura, Brett and Katie will leave the next week to go to Mexico for a family vacation. Michael doesn't want to go with them because of some special school activities so he is staying with friends. Bob said their basement is 90% finished and they love it but he said it is hard to keep track of where everyone is - I'm sure that is true - they need a whistle or something that is a signal to bring them all together.Üj