October 14, 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 cool this morning and more like Fall. We have had the most unusual weather lately - there have been lots of records broken with the high temperatures - it was 87 degrees on Saturday. We have had very little rain too. I planted 4 burning bush shrubs on the hill and whenever I would water them the water would just run off so I put a lot of peat moss around them and then it got so hot I worried that I was smothering them. I want so much for that hill to get prettier and less care.

I had a fun time last week when Ricky and one of his friends, Tom Barlow, came to spend the night with me. They were playing a golf tournament for their school in Payson early the next morning and since the traffic is so bad they asked if they could stay here. It was fun having them and they did so well in the tournament - Davis High came in third out of fourteen schools and Ricky was second in his school. I AM PROUD OF YOU RICKY!!!

I went to the Mall on Saturday and ran into Ann, Lee Anna & Susanna and that was fun. Susanna and Jessie were going to a "50's" dance that night and Susanna was shopping for some last minute things to go with her outfit. I believe they were wearing "poodle skirts" and other appropriate clothes. Jessie was going to go as a "car hop" but I believe she changed her mind. Jessie, Lee Anna, Jimmy and Ann came over last night and we talked about the "50's". They asked me what kind of clothing I wore and I can't remember. I would have been 25 and busy with my family and that's all I can remember. Susanna and Jessie "double dated" that night - their dates are good friends.

The clothing styles are constantly changing but one thing that has REALLY changed in the last few years is the popularity of pants for women. I would never have thought of wearing pants until about ten years ago and now I wear them all the time.

John was over for a few minutes last week to get his boat. He said he had a good time in Maryland but that it rained really hard one day. They have a good place at their new home for his boat - a graveled area separate from their lawn. They really have a big yard - front and back. He was going to have his boat winterized.

Chris Jordin called me on Saturday and we had a good visit. She was going to Fayetteville to care for her little grandson this week while his mother, Marsha, goes for some kind of training for a new job. Chris is doing good but she was sad that day because one of her neighbors, David Rogers, had been killed. He owned some kind of repair shop near Kanis Park and was robbed and murdered in the night while he was working. She went to the funeral with Ann Short. Do you remember the Shorts? They gave us "Reb" and were our neighbors when we lived on Brookside. I didn't know that Wayne Short had been killed - he was your age Bob. He was working for UPS and had an accident a few years ago. They have had a sad life. I am looking forward to being with Chris while I am in Little Rock.

ANN IS THE NEW YOUNG WOMEN'S PRESIDENT IN THEIR WARD!!! Janet Lee who has been the President is now on the General Board in Salt Lake so she was released. I don't know how Ann could possibly do any more but she will manage. She has been a counselor to Janet and sometimes it is easier to be the President and Ann is so well organized. I am SO proud of the service my family is constantly giving to your children, your church, and your communities. I don't know how you do it and I hope you will not neglect your health.

October 14, 1996

I spent most of last week cleaning out the shed in the backyard. I took a trunkful of "stuff" to the dump and I saved some of Daddy's fishing things in case anyone wants them which I doubt. He has a "trot" line that is certainly a memory and some holders for fishing poles that we used at Utah Lake. John says I should take his old golf clubs to D.I. I saved his "smoker" and the cherry wood he used but I don't believe they will ever be used again unless any of you want them. There is also a trolling motor and some boat seats that could probably be used at the cabin. I even vacuumed the shed and hauled out a lot of dirt - I don't know where it came from unless it just comes up from the bottom. I decided to put some of that mouse bait that is called "bar bait" around the outside of the shed to keep the mice from going into the shed but Hans and Frauie found it and started eating it so I couldn't do that. I found A LOT of chemicals - a gallon of hydrochloric acid that Bob said to get rid of so I poured it on the ground between my yard and the Smiths and it bubbled up like the atomic bomb. I also found other bottles of chemicals that weren't labeled and I threw them away too. One of these days I am going to "attack" Daddy's workroom and throw away a lot of old paint and stuff.

I decided it was time to throw away my sand box too. It was made from two plastic wading pools and they were cracked. My neighbor children love to come and play there but there were snails in the sand and I worried it wasn't very clean so I put all the sand in the garden and took the pools to the dump. I took care of the Busaths' two little boys one morning last week while their mother went visiting teaching - they are three and 16 months. The LOVED the playroom. I keep thinking my grandchildren have outgrown that and I should do something different with it.

I worry that my life is going to get TOO busy again. I am going to the temple this Wednesday morning for the dedication and then after that there are going to be a lot of training sessions for the workers. I went one day last week and it is so huge that it will take me awhile to learn even where all the rooms are. I am going to the Rocky Mountain Elementary School this weekend for training sessions for the "I Can Read" program where I have said I will tutor two days a week and I was sustained yesterday as the compassionate service leader in our ward. There is always a lot of service to be given if you are willing isn't there?

I went to the "Harvest Ball" at our ward on Saturday night. They had a live band that was really good and it's so much fun to watch the young people line dance and do some of the new dances. It is funny to go to those things alone but I couldn't find any other "singles" who wanted to go and I wanted to support it because my neighbors, the Fredericks, were in charge of it and they work SO hard. I know how disappointing it is to put a lot of work into things and then not have people come.

They just called me from Lewis and Guymon and they are sending someone over to check my new furnace as a complimentary service so I had better close.

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