March 31, 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:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KATIE TODAY!!! It was fun to talk to you on the phone and I miss having you come stay with me. I hope you have a WONDERFUL party or whatever you are going to do to celebrate being 9 years old. I am looking forward to seeing you this weekend and hearing about your trip to Wyoming and everything.

I hope you all had as wonderful an Easter as I did. The Weinerts had called me and asked if they could stay with me on Saturday night on their way back from Zions. I was thrilled - they said they would go to church with me on Sunday and we would "put together an Easter Dinner". Well - Ann called to invite me to their home for dinner and when I told her the Weinerts were coming she said, "Let's combine our dinners so we can all be together". John came over on Saturday afternoon to groom Hans and Frauie and when I found out they didn't have elaborate plans for Easter I kinda' insisted they come too.

As it turned out - the Weinerts decided they were too dirty to stop on their way from Zions so they didn't spend the night but they came in the afternoon. I should have known better than to try to compete with Ann and her gourmet cooking but it all turned out. She had made lamb medallions that were DELICIOUS. There is nothing I enjoy more than to see my children and grandchildren together and I LOVED it. We missed the Bob and Roy Mellors but I know they had a happy time too. I wished afterwards that I had planned an Easter egg hunt in my backyard - I didn't even think about it. My neighbors had a Scavenger Easter Egg hunt for their children and it was fun watching them look for all the clues.

I took advantage of all the "manpower" I had and asked them to check my sprinkling system. They did such a good and since the people came to fertilize it on Saturday I had it fixed to turn on this morning and I am watering the bottom level even though they are predicting snow tonight. I worked outside several days last week getting the old leaves and debris from under the trees and bushes and I made three trips to the farm with bags of "stuff". I wouldn't have nearly the work to do if I had my big trees all cut down - it's a temptation because pretty soon they start to have cotton and then in the Fall it's the leaves!!! My home and yard can be challenging at times - Ha!!! When my friends came over to show me how to do genealogy extraction work on the computer my overhead light in the bedroom was out. Syd said "You have some burned out light bulbs" - I explained to him that they weren't burned out - they just didn't go on sometime. He wanted to fix something in the connection but I wouldn't let him. After he left I did what he told me to do and it didn't work so I decided to put some aluminum foil around the connection thinking it would help. WELL - it blew out the bulbs and the fuse and about scared me to death. I was mainly worried that everything in the computer was lost but it isn't. I decided to just leave well enough alone because I have enough light here with the lamp. WELL - this morning it works and I don't have the faintest idea why.! One night last week as I was getting ready for bed I remembered that I hadn't turned the heat down. I went downstairs but I didn't put my glasses on and instead of turning the thermostat down to 55 I turned it to 90. I awakened about 1 o'clock in the morning and it was SO hot I couldn't imagine what was wrong. I went downstairs and realized what I had done. I had "COOKED" the Easter Lily I had bought for Daddy's grave - Ha!!!

John repaired the ceiling in the garage when he was here on Saturday and I appreciate that SO much. Steve has offered to do it several times but I just hate to ask him and John was very happy to fix it and he did such a good job. MY LITTLE DOGS look like someone loves them now. They get so scroungy looking during the Winter and John does an excellent job of grooming them. He got some tranquilizers from the Vet so he could keep Hans calm and do a good job around his ears and face. John & Juliannas' dog Oscar had a little infection on his neck so John took him to the Vet and he tranquilized him while he shaved it. John had him with him when he came over and Oscar was like he was drunk - he couldn't even go down the stairs. He is a beautiful dog and so sweet and SO BIG!!! I told John yesterday that I wish he had considered going into Vet Medicine - he truly loves dogs. I think that would be a very hard profession though.

Bob and Claire - I am proud of you for the interest you are showing in the genealogy of the pioneers. One of my friends, Russell Johnson, is working on that thing in Casper, Wyoming. I don't really know what it is and I am looking forward to having you tell us all about it. I am surprised the church has waited so long to do something in that area. Daddy and I spent SO much time traveling in Wyoming and I can truly say I have never been more uncomfortable than I was in Casper - windy and cold!!!

JESSIE - CONGRATULATIONS!!! Jessie is in the Prom Royalty at Timpview. The Prom isn't until the end of April and I believe she already has her dress for it. They were disappointed in their performances at the National Cheerleading Competition in California. They didn't make it to the finals but they aren't worrying about it now - they're ready to "move on". Their family had a WONDERFUL time while they were there - they went to Universal Studio and other places. I believe both Susanna and Jessie are going to work at Hoagie Yogi this Summer - I'm glad because that gives me an excuse to patronize it.

RICKY - CONGRATULATIONS!!! Ricky is doing so well in his tennis matches. I hesitate to give him very much attention because he is super sensitive but I'm SO proud of you Ricky.

LAURA AND MICHAEL - CONGRATULATIONS!!! They have both made their cheerleading teams in their schools. I am proud of you too. I can't tell you how important I think it is for you to be involved in EVERYTHING you possibly can even though your Dad might think it isn't good for you. I am MUCH older and wiser than he is!!! He is surely a WONDERFUL doctor though - my leg has healed so good.

You should see what is going on in my backyard. I am going to live with a lot of noise and dust for many months I'm afraid!!! They are not adding those extra lanes at all like I thought they were going to. At first they said just one lane - now they are adding an emergency lane so really it will be four lanes. It will be fun for maybe Timothy and Jesse to watch the "diggers" on the hill. I really don't care and it won't affect my property very much when they have finished. That college is growing by leaps and bounds and the perimeter road is a real necessity.

I haven't heard from Roy & Patrice and their family. I worried when I heard about the tornadoes in Tennessee and Kentucky. There is always something no matter where you live. Many people are very worried about the possibility of flooding in Utah this Spring. I am a little worried about the farm and the creek that takes the mountain runoff. I haven't talked to Chris or Joy lately so I'm kinda' out of touch with Little Rock but I know it is BEAUTIFUL at this time of year.

I went to Brigadoon at BYU one night last week. There is so much to do in this area and I enjoy things like that. I hope you are all doing good. Claire called and invited me to join with the family to watch conference together next Sunday and I will LOVE that - I wish Roy, Patrice, Emily, Timothy and Jesse could "pop in" and be with us.

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