Dearest Family, July 11, 1998

PATRICE - your letter was WONDERFUL - thank you SO much!!! I loved hearing about your Fourth of July Celebration - WOW - you really celebrated. I am going to tell about your “hummingbird banding party” for my journal and also for my Utah family. (They went to some friends' place at the Lakeside Country Club which is by Pine Bluff and the man who is 80 years old is one of 40 in the United States who have a permit to band hummingbirds and then record their findings. They trapped three hummingbirds so Emily, Timothy and Jesse each got to release one). Patrice wrote that they are very small and weigh about the same as a dime. I have NEVER heard of anyone doing this - my brothers used to do a similar thing with pigeons and that was interesting too. I will have a much better interest in hummingbirds now than ever before. The Roys got a hummingbird feeder for PaPa for the cabin and we loved to feed them and watch them from the kitchen window.

It was so WONDERFUL to hear good news about Robert Tucker - he was always very handsome so if he has been on a workout program he must be in tip top shape. Roy - do you remember how we used to call Scott Cooper “Jumpy” or something like that? I don't remember what Whit Light looks like but I remember he was Roy's friend - did he go to Hall? It makes me happy to hear that all your friends are having new babies!!! Robert's “Aunt Charlie” is famous for her cheesecakes - she used to take one to their home each Christmas and Robert would share with us and I got her recipe but mine never did turn out as good as hers did. I'm glad Jesse enjoyed the fireworks on Lake Hamilton - he's my kind of guy!!!

Your garden sounds like a “prize winner” - did you fertilize it? I think it is great that you are drying some tomatoes - I would think that would take forever because there is so much liquid in tomatoes.

Emily - at UALR in the Summer Laureate Program - she is going to be so well educated and I'm proud of you for helping her take advantage of all the things that are available. Timothy - playing basketball - does he know about Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz - it is surprising how many people here connect him with Michael Jordan.

I would like to go with Suzie on an Elder Hostel trip sometime - I think that would be a lot of fun besides educational. (Susie is going on a cruise to Alaska and will teach a class on how to use the computer and they are picking up part of her fare for her expertise). I wonder if they need teachers who can teach English as a Second Language - Ha!!! She will also visit Liz in Seattle.

I hope you have a happy vacation in Colorado - it will be heavenly after the Little Rock heat. I remember those days!!!

By the way - my friend Joy Geisler had another knee replacement - she asked for Roy to be her anesthesiologist but he wasn't going to be on call so she got one from his group. She is doing fine.

BARJI - thank you for your WONDERFUL letter too. That is the longest letter I have ever received from any of my grandchildren and I LOVED it. I laughed about the shots you and your Mom received in preparation for your trip to Thailand. You will be SO happy you had them - they were hard for Michael too but after being here I'm sure he could tell you how important they are. The friends you have made with the Sunburst Dance Group sound SUPER and I am SO happy it was a good experience for you. I can hardly wait to visit you and Jessie in Logan - it has brought back so many happy memories for me just knowing you will be in the same place I was for four years. It sounds to me like you are going to have a pretty stiff course with Chemistry, Nutrition and Food Sciences, Music and Ballet and maybe Humanities. Will you be in the Home Economics Department? I enjoy hearing about Boyd - I knew he would love the MTC and so will Ricky. I hope you will have Ricky's farewell taped so I can listen to it when I get home. I will be thinking about all of you all day tomorrow.

ANNIE - thank you for your WONDERFUL letter too. I can't believe your skunk problem and it is a BIG problem - they have caught two skunks in their trap and there are two more in their window well now!!! When we were on our mission in Montana we had some friends in Wyoming who lived a long ways from town and they had a BIG problem with skunks too - I don't remember how they got rid of them. I wish I could send this letter to Susanna - I will try to add her name to the “family” but I doubt I will be able to figure it out. I will write to her anyway and tell her she doesn't need to write me back - you can keep me informed about how she is doing.

I am alone in the apartment now and it is a rare thing and I'm enjoying it. Janet and Darlene were invited to go see the Rama IX Gardens or something like that and Helen called one of our teachers and asked her to come get her to take her to the shoe store. I didn't want to be involved in that so I walked to the “Villa” and picked up some yogurt and then came home. The teachers here will do anything for us and I just can't take advantage of them - we rank right up there with the “monks” - ha!!! They very sincerely feel they are “Making Merit” when they prepare food for the monks and do service for them - that means they will gain some kind of reward here and also when they die and are reincarnated.

I LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY, VERY MUCH. PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL. Grandma B