September 29, 1996

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

It is Sunday morning and I am going to write my letter now because I am going up to care for Bob and Claires' children the next few days and I won't be home. Their family went to Washington D. C. on Wednesday and the children are coming home tonight - I will meet them at the airport and take them to Layton. I had an e-mail message from Michael on Wednesday night and they are having a wonderful time - they met Muhammad Ali and got his autograph and they saw President Clinton in a limousine. Michael is very impressed with the hotel they are staying in and they are enjoying ordering room service - how am I ever going to compete with that??? The letter Claire sent to me with their schedule on sounds exciting too - a school carnival, a soccer tournament, etc. - it will be fun to be with them.

We are having such beautiful weather. John brought Sasha and Oscar over yesterday afternoon - they have grown so much and will be huge and beautiful dogs. He went to the cabin to check it out and then he went fishing. He says there is a WONDERFUL fly fishing river right by the Scofield dam and he caught a lot of fish - he just catches and releases. He says his dogs love the water - I guess that's the way they are bred. John and I have worried about the water at the cabin this week - the weather predictions were for freezing temperatures. I called Byrd and he said they hoped to keep the water on up there until after the elk hunting season is over which is October 17th. Bob wants to take his children up there next weekend which is our church conference weekend and he is planning to winterize the cabin then. John called me on his way home yesterday and he said everything was fine. It is beautiful up there now with all the Autumn leaves in full color.

Speaking of Autumn colors. Don and Cheryl took me on a ride up to Maple Lake on Thursday. This lake is up Payson Canyon and is in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in Utah. When the Roy Mellors come next Summer I hope we will be able to go up there for a picnic and some fishing. They had their little autistic grandson with them - they tied a rope around his waist so they could keep him from getting in the lake and also keep him safe. WOW - that would be a real challenge. He is a darling little boy - nine years old and doesn't say a word. I had made some peanut butter cookies for him and put them in a glittery candy box thinking that would be a treat. Cheryl took them and hid them because she said he has to choose the kind he will eat and that day he saw some pecan sandies I had in the cookie jar and that was what he wanted. He said he would just tear up the glittery box. We stopped at MacDonald's on the way home so he could get some chicken fingers - Cheryl asked for every kind of sauce they had because David couldn't tell her what kind he would eat that day. As it turned out he wanted the sweet and sour so we had to go back and get more of that kind. I felt bad for Cheryl - he sat on her lap in the truck and was a real handful. Don has a new truck and he is very proud of it. He has had a wonderful garden at the farm this Summer - he brought me a cantaloupe and also some plums from a tree at their home. They left for a Panama cruise this morning and will be gone for twelve days. They take their little grandson quite often to give his mother, their daughter, a break. She has accepted a teaching position this next year at Taylorsville High School in math and I'm hoping that won't mean that Don and Cheryl will have David a lot.

The Weinerts are in Sun Valley for their UEA Vacation. Jeannie called me on Wednesday night and said they were looking forward to a fun time. Some of their neighbor friends were going with them. They are busy, busy too!!! Barji had gone to her Homecoming Dance last week and Jeannie said she would tell me about it when I am in Layton this week. I hope to spend some time with Jeannie - maybe go to lunch. Mary Ann is managing the volleyball team at her school and Sarah won a part in the Nutcracker Ballet that will be put on in a couple months. Ricky is doing very well in the school golf team - they had just played a tournament!!!

Beverly, Russell and Mimi are here from Jerome. They came for the football game yesterday between BYU and SMU - BYU "creamed" them - 31 - 3. They haven't been here for quite along time and Ron, Ann and the children were looking forward to their visit. There is SO much going on in the Woolley household and I know they have had a good time. I had such a fun surprise last Week - I told you that I was working like a crazy person on my hill. Well - I looked like a crazy person and was covered with dirt when I heard someone say "Grandma". Susanna and some of her friends had been attending a "vocation fair" at UVSC and came by to see me. I wish I could figure out a glamorous way to work - I have to get right in the dirt and get it all over me. They were SO sweet and came in and we visited at the kitchen table - I couldn't get them to eat anything though. Susanna has the cutest friend boy - Ryan. He is one of the stars of their football team and a very nice young man. Their team was playing the Skyline football team that night and Ryan was concerned about it - they lost but Skyline is supposed to have one of the best teams in the state. Russell played on Friday afternoon - I hope Russ and Bev got here in time to go to his game. Lee Anna is loving her new school and is in her student government and is also a cheerleader.

JOHN DID THE NICEST THING LAST WEEK. I have told you how he has worried about Frauie's teeth. Dogs are dogs to me and I would never mistreat them but I also don't believe in spending money on their teeth. WELL - I had a message on my phone one day from John that said he had come to get Frauie so he could work on her teeth and he would bring her back soon - I wasn't home. I knew that John had talked to Roy about anesthesia, Bob about sedatives and his dentist friend in Idaho about cleaning teeth but I also knew that John wouldn't do anything reckless. He took Frauie to our vet so he could clean them - he had to pull 7 teeth besides cleaning them and you should see them. They are "pearly white" and Frauie is a different dog. The vet sent home antibiotics that I have been giving her. I had one tooth pulled a week or so ago and it cost me $100 - John won't tell me how much it cost!!! I have always felt that you could tell the real character of a person in how they treat animals - I'M PROUD OF JOHN.

I haven't heard from the Roy Mellors this week. I said in my letter last week that I was going to try to go see them on Jesse's birthday - November 3rd. I got my 2's and my 3's mixed up. Jesse will be 3 but his birthday is on November 2nd. That is when I would like to go. The last time I talked to Roy he was trying to cook some doves. There is such a little bit of meat on a dove that it takes many of them to make a meal but they are delicious. I imagine it will soon be duck hunting season in Arkansas too.

It is SO good to not have to attend those early morning meetings on Sunday. I could get used to my life as it is very easy. I have a collection of WONDERFUL letters that make me feel as if I did my very best in my calling and that is all I could ask for. I certainly do manage to keep busy - I went to the country club for lunch one day this week - I always have their cobb salad and sometime I am going to learn how to make that right. I also went to a book review. The only thing I don't have time for is cleaning my house and it is a disaster.

Julianna was working on some crafts yesterday so she didn't come over with John. She was also expecting a friend to come for the weekend. She attended some of the UEA meetings but wasn't very impressed with them - there has been a lot in the paper about subjects on homosexuality being discussed at the meetings.

I am LOVING this computer but I must learn about the space left in my letters. I was going to start writing "my book" yesterday. I got all your letters that I have stored in that trunk and started to sort them out for you - I couldn't stop reading some of them and after a couple hours I decided that was a job for all of us so I just put them all back in the trunk for another day.

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