November 1, 1999 Farmington, Utah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JESSE ON TUESDAY!!! It is hard for me to believe that you will be 6 years old Jesse - I will NEVER forget being with you and your family right shortly after you were born - you were such a beautiful baby and you are such a handsome little boy!!! John was telling me the other day how much fun it was to play games with you when he visited in Little Rock. I HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY ON TUESDAY - I'll bet you take treats to school!!!

This has been a very busy week for me - not for a normal person but for a very slow person like I am it has been busy and my house shows it!!! My stock broker, Wayne Snow, called me on Tuesday to tell me that one of my investments was being "paid off" and I would have to decide what to do with the money. I called John and he said he would meet me at Wayne's office on Wednesday morning. It is WONDERFUL for me to have John with me - he speaks that kind of language and I am completely in the dark!!! We stopped for a bagel sandwich after the meeting and John said to the waitress "hold the mayo" and I thought "that isn't my John" - HE LOOKS JUST WONDERFUL but I think he has lost enough!!!

I hope you all had a happy HALLOWEEN!!! Mary Ann had a party and they invited about 30 friends and they got the horse area in back of them all wet and then played football in the mud. Jeannie said the mud was mixed with manure and she has never seen kids have so much fun. She gathered them all together on their lawn in the sun after and gave them donuts and apple juice but she made them go home to "clean up". There was a dance at their high school later and they came by my condo to trick or treat and they looked SO cute. Sarah dressed up as "Barbie" with a jeweled crown and earrings she had bought at K-Mart and she had sewn "Barbie" on a T-shirt. I didn't have many come for treats but more than I had expected - I had plenty of p-nut butter cups and LOTS of tootsie rolls that I still have. Jeannie made "Dinner in a Pumpkin" and I went over to see it yesterday and had a taste - Mary Ann was "sleeping off her weekend" and Rick was in Bishopric meetings - Ha!!! I talked Sarah into coming to my condo with me and we did a little of her "homework" - she had to find some want ads for employment that she could apply for.

Claire had invited me to come for "French toast" last night and IT WAS SO FUN FOR SARAH AND ME TO BE WITH THEM. She had made delicious basil/tomato sauce for spaghetti and also meat balls so we didn't have French toast!!! She had also made bread sticks that were WONDERFUL. Their table was so beautifully set with a Halloween table cloth and plates, cups and napkins to match. Their home was so typical - the other counselor in the Bishopric and his family had come by unexpectedly so we visited with them for awhile - a darling family with a four month old baby girl. They didn't stay long after we got there. I enjoyed meeting the counselor who works with Bob - he had attended a meeting early in the week and he was one of the speakers along with Elizabeth Dole and Colin Powell - he works for the Franklin-Covey company. I worried that Sarah wanted to go home after dinner but she wanted to stay for Family Home Evening so we did. I LOVED that - Bob does such a good job and Michael was in charge and he also did a good job. Katie played a piano solo for me and SHE IS SO GOOD!!!

John suggested that I have the maintenance done that is scheduled for my Subaru so I drove to the place where they bought it and made an appointment for Friday. The appointment was for 10 a.m. and it took them until 3 p.m. to finish it - I had fun shopping as they had a shuttle to take me to the ZCMI shopping center. John had received a notice that Subaru was notifying owners of a safety defect in the braking system and even though it probably would not have affected my car he thought it would be a good idea to have something done. They replaced the brake master cylinder at no cost to me and that probably was a good thing. I always had those maintenance schedules done for my Toyota and I didn't ever have any problems so I am glad to have it done.

I had planned to clean my house on Saturday but Margaret invited me to go to Logan for the Utah State game with some of our friends in the condos and THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!! Margaret is a BIG contributor financially to Utah State so she had tickets for all of us for the game and also for the dignitaries' lunch. We ate in a covered tent close to the stadium and I met President and Mrs. Emert and visited with many "old timers". It was fun to be on the campus again but it has changed SO much during the last 52 years that I hardly recognize it. Utah State lost their game with Boise State and they should have won it. I kept looking for Barji and Jessie but there was a HUGE crowd and of course I couldn't find them.

Annie - thank you for your e-mail. I always love to hear about your family activities and I will always remember how Susanna, Jesse, Russell, LeeAnna and Jimmy used to come to my home on Halloween all dressed up. I guess they don't dress up like that anymore - did they all go to parties too. Bob said that Jimmy had a little problem with one of his ears - I hope he is better by now. Russell - are you still using your crutches? I think your coach was right when he said Timpview's football championship was in jeopardy when you got out of the action.

I talked for a long time last night to my former companion in Bangkok - Myrth Kidd. She is home in Idaho recuperating from an illness she got in Thailand. It is fun to hear news about my friends there from her. She told me the Governor has requested 8 more couples to come teach in Bangkok - the church has sent more couples and single women over there but many of them have gone "up country" to work in church related activities.

Roy and Patrice - as I listen to the news about the plane crash I remember when Daddy and John and I visited you in Rhode Island and saw the areas they show on television. That is such a beautiful area but the news about the crash is very sad.

I don't know how long our gorgeous weather is going to last but I have never enjoyed a Fall like I have this one. Everyone is saying that we need moisture and I'm sure we will get plenty of it soon. I am going to have a permanent this morning - my hair completely died this week - Ha!!!