June 6, 1999 Farmington, Utah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JOHN TODAY!!! I am VERY proud of you on your 33rd birthday. John has been in Europe but I just talked to Julianna and she said he is back in the States now and is in New York - he'll be home on Tuesday!!! I hope you have had a good trip John and I hope you treated yourself to a good birthday dinner today!!! Julianna is kinda' stuck at home caring for 13 dogs (11 little puppies and their Mom and Dad) but she says everything is going fine and the puppies are growing fast. She is trying to wean them so she's feeding them cottage cheese and I'm sure that takes a lot of time - she is SO good at doing that!!!

I went to Scofield on Monday night - I got there about 11:30 and I don't believe I will do that again. IT WAS SO DARK!!! When Bob and I left there on Sunday night there were lots of campers all along the lake and Scofield West was filled with people but when I got there on Monday night they had all gone home. I wasn't alone because Lee and Jerry Snow who take care of it are always there and there were a few cars but it was very, very quiet. They have put up more big lights and that helps but the campers who were there were all asleep. I didn't have any problems turning on the water, gas and electricity so it was fine. I started cleaning Tuesday morning and I didn't stop until Friday night - I think everything is as "hygienically clean" as possible in that cabin except for the skunk room. I had planned to finish the skunk room and go into Price to get new curtains for the window in there but it started to snow so I came home. I will make some curtains and go up again this weekend to finish it. It really is beautiful up there and I have never seen so many birds of all kinds - lots of pretty canaries.

I talked to Chris and Wayne yesterday and they want to stay there for two weeks - coming and going to pick up some of their children who will fly into Salt Lake. They are going to the Manti pageant on June 24th and then to Scofield the next day. It will be fun for them - our friend Byrd is SO anxious to have them come. He has a nice boat and they will be able to do a lot of fishing and it is good fishing now. The water heater doesn't work and Wayne said he would try to fix it while he is there. I can't imagine that it is worn out because it hasn't been used that much. I told him they could take cold showers - Ha!!!

ANNIE - thank you SO much for your long e-mail - I was thrilled to hear from you and you sound much too busy!!! I'm glad LeeAnna is feeling better from her wisdom teeth extraction. I am SO sorry to hear about your ward member who had an aneurism and died at 45 years of age. Ron has really had his hands full with being the only member of your Bishopric in town. Funerals and helping with families dealing with sorrow are things you can't disregard and put off and I can't think of anyone more qualified in every way to deal with that than Ron and You and your family. I am very anxious to see your home - I laugh when I think about how you thought it would be finished in April. Contractors have their own time tables don't they?

ROY AND PATRICE - I have thought about you so much this week. I was in Scofield when I heard the news of the airplane crash in Little Rock and I knew that with 80 people seriously injured Roy would be called into the hospital to work night and day. I worried because I knew that he and Emily would be coming from the Alabama space camp but I also knew that they were going camping on the Buffalo river so they wouldn't be on the airplane. I am sad about all the people who were killed but it sounded like a miracle that more were not fatally injured. As I looked at the pictures I remembered the million times Daddy flew into that airport. I hope your Buffalo river camping trip was lots of fun. I am SO excited about having Emily come on the 26th and I will be at the airport - nothing could keep me away!!! I'm sure Katie will want to be there also. Do you realize that it has been two years since I have seen any of you????

I talked to Jeannie a few minutes ago and they are doing fine. Sarah had 50 of her classmates come to her home last Friday night for a "last day of school party". Rick said they filled their family room and really had a good time - their home is perfect for parties like that. Jeannie is swamped with Relief Society compassionate service activities - a sister in their ward is 8 1/2 months pregnant and they have discovered the baby will die because of a heart problem. That is SO sad!!! Jeannie helped Sarah with a cheerleader garage sale but it was a disappointment. The weather was bad and they didn't have many people come to buy things. WHAT A LOT OF WORK!

I keep thinking of Bob's dessert at the cabin. He brought a box of white cake mix and we don't usually use the oven up there although I'm sure it works okay. WELL - he didn't ever intend to bake it. It was SO cute as he mixed it in a bowl and gave everyone a spoon and then with a larger spoon he gave everyone some. It was funny - he started with half a package but I believe we ended up eating the "WHOLE THING".