March 24, 1997

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's really a windy and kinda' cold day here in Orem today. We have had absolutely gorgeous weather so I won't complain. I had planned to work outside this morning but it is too cold - we even had some snow flurries.

I had a fun week last week and I hope all of you did too. I went to Bountiful on Tuesday for a violin recital where Mary Ann and Sarah played. I have NEVER heard a more beautiful duet than they played - it was very, very good!!! They also played solo pieces and they were excellent as well - I can't believe how they can memorize such long, long pieces. I am thrilled to know they are practicing and enjoying their music - it is SO good for them and something they will use all their lives. It was fun to be with Rick, Jean and Barji too - they told me where Ricky was but I can't remember. Did I ever report that Ricky won three of his four tennis games when he went to St. George? THAT IS GREAT!!!

Then there is Brett - Ha!!! I talked to Bob last night and he said that Brett wasn't happy about going a hundred miles an hour down a smooth ski slope - he had to wind around some trees and bushes going that fast. He hit a tree or something and dislocated his knee and has a brace on it. Bob said he didn't think it would slow him down for long - I hope not because he is a SUPER soccer player and they are starting their practices now.

The Woolleys have been in California this weekend for the national cheerleading competition. I believe they will be home sometime today. I am caring for Wicket and when Russell and Ron brought him over on Friday night I was thrilled to hear Ron say he hoped the cheerleaders placed in the competition - he has been such an enthusiastic supporter all year. I hope they did too but I also hope they won't be too disappointed if they didn't. Wicket is happy here but there is no way I can keep him confined in the backyard so I have to keep him in the downstairs room. I have boarded up all the holes where I can see him escape but he always finds a new one. I had a large bag of "skittles" in my tutoring box and he found them and ate most of them - it made him sick and I was worried that I would have to take him to the vet to have his stomach pumped - Ha!

I have thought about the Roy Mellor family all week and I hope they had a WONDERFUL time in Gulf Shores. I watched the weather news and it looked like maybe they had some rain - it wouldn't matter because it would be plenty warm anyway. I hope they will share some of their pictures with me. I also hope they found Chris and Wayne but I don't believe they were there.

I haven't heard from the John Mellors but I'm sure they're doing fine. I love to see the classrooms in the school where I tutor because they have so many cute Easter and Spring decorations. I know Julianna's classroom is special because she is so artistic - they have a darling door decoration at their home. I do well if I get a decoration up that I can buy.

The Alpha Chi reunion was so much fun. I saw friends that I hadn't seen for over fifty years. There were about 25 there and three of us went together from the Provo-Orem area. The woman who had it at her apartment hospitality room loves where she lives. It is in an apartment complex that is just north of the Temple and it has a security system and she says she never worries about being alone. I believe I would go crazy living there but maybe when I get old I would like it - Ha!

Something that made the party so special was that the woman who helped to organize it and lives in the apartment complex lived in Billings for 14 years. Her husband was a counselor to two Mission Presidents while they lived there and we knew so many of the same people. I hadn't know this before the party - I don't know if she did or not. They weren't there when we were in Billings but she spent a lot of time in the Mission Home with her husband and it was just like we had been there together. I also didn't know that her husband was a Sigma Nu like Daddy was and they were friends. Their name is Breinholt. It was a salad potluck and we had some very delicious salads and then the hostesses furnished rolls, and desserts.

Several of the women who were there were friends of Dee and Don. It was fun to visit with them and then Don called on his way home from California and we had more fun talking about all these people. One of them still lives in Brigham City and our families used to go to Yellowstone Park every Summer - that was fun too and I know I haven't seen her for over 50 years. Ellen Mae was there and also her sister Gene and some other friends who had come from Logan.

The Relief Society Home Making dinner for the sesquicentennial year was WONDERFUL. They had the priesthood (mainly Steve Frisby) prepare Dutch Oven dinners and I have never tasted such good food. I am going to try to do some of that at the cabin this year. They had chicken breasts bar-b-cued with carrots, potatoes and green beans. Everyone just raved about the sauce and I asked Steve what it was last night when he came over for Home Teaching and he said it was just plain old bar-b-cue sauce from Sams with cream of mushroom sauce mixed in with it. He said he browned the chicken in a little oil and then drained that off and then put the vegetables and sauce in and cooked it for about an hour. They also made peach cobbler and served it with ice cream. They had a great crowd and most were dressed in pioneer costumes. They had a good program and it was on the stage and at the end one of the women fainted - a lot of people thought it was part of the program until the doctors in the audience rushed on stage.

I haven't heard from the Willardsens about the reunion invitations. Ramona called me one day last week and left a message. I decided to go visit her so I stopped on my way home from the cheer-leading exhibition at Timpview on Wednesday night. She had company so I didn't go in. I called her the next day and she had a hard time making sense. I laughed about this until I realized that I had sent Katie her birthday card more than a full week before her birthday because I was so mixed up - I panicked and hurried to the post office and then discovered it was a week early. Ramona is 10 years older than I so there is no telling what I will be like in ten years. She wants me to go to Hawaii with her - I said

Below is the letter that Mom first wrote:

I have just written a two page letter and it disappeared. I can't imagine what I did wrong. I will try to write another one but I will be REALLY upset if I retrieve the old one in the process. This has happened to me before but I have been able to find it but I can't today. I can't remember what I wrote now.

I want to tell about going to Bountiful to attend a violin recital in which Mary Ann & Sarah played. I have NEVER heard a more beautiful duet than the one they played - it was absolutely perfect and I was SO proud of them. They also played solo pieces and they were excellent too. I can't imagine anyone being able to memorize such long pieces. I am SO thrilled they are willing to practice and practice and practice because it is obvious they do. This is something they will use their entire life. It was fun to be with Rick, Jean and Barji too - they told me where Ricky was but I have forgotten. Ricky did SO well in his tennis competition in St. George a couple weekends ago - he won three of the four games he played in. I hope my grandchildren know they don't have to win in everything - it's the participation that counts!!!

Brett is a REAL participant!!! I talked to Bob last night and he said that Brett isn't content to just ski a hundred miles an hour down a smooth ski slope - he has to ski that fast between trees and bushes. He and a tree tangled up and Brett hurt his knee - he is in a brace and I hope he will get out of it soon because he needs to start his soccer practices.

I haven't talked to John & Julianna this week. I have SO enjoyed going to the school where I tutor to see the darling Easter and Spring decorations. I know Julianna's class room is special because she is so artistic and loves doing that sort of thing. I am lucky if I can find something cute to buy.

The Woolleys have been in California this weekend for the National Cheerleading Competition - I hope they are happy with their performances. I was thrilled when Ron & Russell brought Wicket over for me to care for to hear Ron say he hoped they would "place" - Ron has been such an enthusiastic supporter for them all year. I went to their pre-competition exhibition at Timpview and I think they should win first place. I worry when they throw Jessie so high but it doesn't seem to bother her. They are REALLY good. I think it is kinda' sad to see this come to an end because Susanna & Jessie have been together for everything but it couldn't last forever.

I have thought about the Roy Mellors all week and I hope they have had a WONDERFUL time in Gulf Shores. I have watched the weather news and I believe they have had some rain but it won't really matter because it has been plenty warm. I hope they were able to find Chris and Wayne but I don't believe they were there.

Bob brought Laura, Katie and Brett down to the farm on Saturday to fly airplanes. They left me a message on my phone and I was sick to miss them. Saturday is my Temple Day and once I have made that commitment it is practically impossible to get out of it. They have a list of substitutes but they are never able to fill in when I want them. Bob said they had a good time and the farm is beautiful. Stan (the man who leases it) has put up an electric wire to keep his cows off the major part of the farm - he feeds them close to the road.

I am anxious to drive up to Scofield and see the cabin. They have had more snow there this year than ever before so it will probably be another month before I will dare go up. I am determined to spend more time up there this Summer. I am not going to plant a big vegetable garden this year.

The Alpha Chi reunion last Wednesday in Salt Lake was so much fun. The lady who helped to organize it and who lives in the apartment complex where it was held lived in Billings for 14 years and her husband was a counselor to two Mission Presidents. They weren't there when we were but we knew many of the same people and we had a WONDERFUL time talking about it. Their last name is Breinholt and he was a Sigma Nut like Daddy was. I didn't know this before I went to the party - I don't know if she did or not. There were about 25 of us at the party and three of us went together from the Provo-Orem area. I saw friends I hadn't seen for 50 years and it was like we saw each other every week.

There were several women there who live in Brigham City and they had dated Dee and Don and we had fun visiting about that. I haven't been to Brigham City since Dee died and I enjoyed hearing about the growth of that area - I guess Perry is really booming and it was such a small town when I lived there. One of the women used to go to Yellowstone with us each year - her family were close friends with my folks and we had so much fun talking about those experiences. I have pictures of all of us in Yellowstone - before Lela and Bob died.

We didn't have name tags and most of the people would never have recognized me and they told me so. I wouldn't have recognized most of them either but I didn't tell them that - Ha!!! They are all very wonderful women and successful women. Ellen Mae was there and also her sister Gene who came with other friends from Logan. We plan to get together twice a year - we'll meet again in September.

Our Relief Society Home Making Sesquicentennial Dinner was really wonderful. They had the Priesthood prepare Dutch Oven Cooking and I have never tasted such good food. Steve Frisby is really the authority and did most of the cooking.. He came Home Teaching last night and he told me they browned boneless chicken breasts and then drained all the fat from the pan. Then they put in potatoes, carrots and green beans with bar-b-cue sauce from Sams with some cream of mushroom soup mixed in and cooked it for about an hour. It was delicious. They had a good program too and it was quite spiritual about the pioneers coming across the plains and at the end one of the women fainted on stage. A lot of people thought it was part of the program until the doctors in the audience rushed up to help her. She was okay and was cute as she said, "The journey from the past to the future was just too long".

I haven't heard from the Willardsens about the invitations for the reunion.; I hope they don't wait too long because people will start to fill up their calendars. Ramona called me one day last week and she had a hard time making sense. I laughed until I thought about how mixed up I have been about Katie's birthday - I panicked and rushed to the post office to mail her card and mailed it a good full week too early. Ramona is ten years older than I am so I can't even imagine what I will be like in ten years. She wants me to go to Hawaii with her - I said, "NO WAY".

I haven't retrieved my first letter so I will have this one copied - I hope!!!

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