January 11, 1999 Farmington, Utah

I HAVE A MARVELOUS NEW CONDO!!! I still can't believe it has actually happened but I have a good feeling because everything seemed to fall into place and I appreciate SO much all the help I have had. I worry a little bit because it is almost as big as the home I had in Orem - 2800 square feet on the two floors and another 1000 square feet in the basement. It is decorated very nicely and I think the furniture I will choose to use will fit in just fine so I won't have to buy anything like draperies, blinds, etc. It was built in 1980 so I may have to replace the furnace sometime and things like that but it has a new water heater and even a soft water tank and new dishwasher.

I love many things about it but probably the thing that sold me was the deck just off from the living room - I WILL BE ABLE TO HAVE FAMILY PARTIES. My Little Rock family will be very comfortable and the swimming pool is right in front of my condo - it is very small but they tell me the women in the condominiums get together and do water aerobics (sp.?). It also has a lot of storage space so I won't have to throw away my Christmas cards from the last ten years - Ha!!!

I can walk to the new home the Weinerts are building - it isn't really that close but it would be a good walk. The lady who lives in the condo right next to mine is the age of Dee and Don and her older sister was a close friend of my sister, Lela. She was widowed this last year and she is a "fireball" but very, very nice. My new ward is just perfect for me - new and quite young people and lots of old people like me. I am very impressed with the quality of the lessons given in their meetings - I am going to have to "reach" and that will be good for me.

My friend here, Margaret Jost, wanted to see it because she is looking for a condo. I arranged with the owners to show it yesterday afternoon and I took Sarah with me because her family was busy and while we were there Ann and Susanna came - I was SO thrilled and they loved it too. Bob and I are going over tomorrow afternoon and he will take his digital camera and some measuring things and we will measure the rooms and then he is going to send the measurements to John and John will put them on the computer in graphics so we will be able to see what furniture fits where (I think that is what is going to happen.)

I AM SO LUCKY TO HAVE SUCH A WONDERFUL FAMILY!!! Bob and John didn't want me anywhere around when they discussed the price of the condo so I stayed at Jean's place and Bob, John and Rick went to discuss it with the owners. The owner, Jack Browning, called me later that night and said, "Whenever I can sit down with such fine young men and we can come to an agreement that we all feel good about then I know it is right". I can't tell you how much that means to me!!! Jack is very much like Lynn - he has finished the basement himself and he has done an excellent job and as John said, "he takes such pride in his work".

Jack was a marine pilot in World War II and he has pictures of the airplanes he flew, Corsairs, all over their condo. I felt bad when he asked me where Daddy took his basic training - I didn't know. I also didn't know which kinds of planes he flew - all I know is that he flew off aircraft carriers. Daddy did not talk much about his experiences in the war with me and I didn't know him until after the war was over. I am SO glad we have the video that Ann made - I need to watch that again. Jack is a little younger than Daddy - I believe he is 75 and Daddy would be 78. They are moving to Houston, Texas because their two sons live there and they have a daughter in Dallas. The condo was only put up for sale two weeks ago so I feel very lucky. When we decided it was risky to buy the other one because of the change in plans for the entire project then John and Julianna went to Bountiful to look for one and Jeannie took me all over this area - It was really a stroke of luck that we found it but I am most grateful!!!

My friends from Brigham City came down last Monday and we all went to the Olive Gardens Restaurant - LaRaine Petersen, Marva Frost, Marion Dunn, Helen Jane Lemon, Ellen Mae, Ida Smith and me. IT WAS SO FUN!!! It is amazing to me that even though we haven't been in school together for 55 years we all still love each other and are interested in our children, etc. Ida Smith has "shrunk" - she is very small and that has just happened while I have been gone. She left the next day to spend three months in Palm Springs at her home there - I told her to look up Ann Willardson.

Tuesday I called my friend, Margaret Andersen, who will be my new neighbor and she said she would love to show us the condo so Jean and I met her at 1 p.m. - we loved it immediately. Wednesday, Betty Browning the owner, called and said she and her husband would meet with Bob, John and Rick on Saturday. The Brownings had just returned from Texas that morning. Bob came over and brought me s "Zuka" juice which I loved and we discussed the condo.

Thursday, I drove to Provo to get my third and last hepatitis shots. The church keeps a record of all our shots and I wanted to get them before they called and also while the roads don't have snow on them. They had called me from the Orem Post Office to tell me I had a registered letter there - I thought it was some pictures I had asked Myrth to send to me. I went to the Post Office and it was a Christmas card from my sweet PraPa in Bangkok - Ha!!!

Saturday was a special day. I was on pins and needles at Jean's condo and the men didn't come there until almost 2 p.m. and their meeting with the Brownings was at 11 a.m. They came in with smiles on their faces and said, "Well, Mom, now you have two condos" - needless to say I was THRILLED. (They still haven't heard about the earnest money from the other condo - ugh!!!) To celebrate we all went to El Matadors for Mexican food - that was something I had looked forward to for 18 months and it was delicious.

Yesterday was a special day too. I went to my church from 8:30 until 11:30 a.m. and then I hurried back to the apartment and fixed a baked potato with cottage cheese and then I hurried to the ward building that the Weinerts used to go to. They had invited Mary Ann to play a violin solo for their meeting. When I walked in I couldn't believe the crowd - it looked like a million people to me!!! When Mary Ann stood up with all the confidence in the world and played her solo I thought to myself "Is she really a member of my family" - I have never had that much confidence!!! She did a beautiful job and you could have heard a pin drop. Barji and Jessie had come from Utah State so they could attend missionary farewells for two of their friends - I wanted to go back to Logan with them - I am anxious to see Utah State again.

PATRICE - Thank you SO much for getting me up to date about your family. I have been in such a "fog" that I forgot to find out about my mail here. It finally dawned on me that I should ask about it and when I did I found out I had to go the Post Office to get a key - there was a lot of mail in my box. I was SO thrilled to have four letters from the Roy Mellors - I was afraid you had forgotten me!!! I did receive the wonderful pecans and also your Christmas box - I feel very sad that you didn't receive my letter thanking the children for their gifts because I love them!!! I wrote it on Christmas Eve when I came back from our family party - I am thinking I sent it to Roy and he either erased it by mistake or hasn't had time to access it. I believe I will send my e-mail to Patrice from now on - Ha!!!

I know this is much too long - I simply cannot write short letters to you. I want you to know EVERYTHING. I don't expect you to read it but I hope someone will print it for my journal - there is not room here in the apartment to put up my printer!!!