December 27, 1999 Farmington, Utah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRETT YESTERDAY AND TO LEEANNA ON WEDNESDAY - BRETT IS NOW 14 YEARS OLD AND LEEANNA WILL BE 15 YEARS OLD. I am SO happy to be home and closer to some of my grandchildren as they grow up - I have a difficult time keeping track of all their ages when I am far away. I am SO proud of all of them and it is WONDERFUL to see them grow up with such great attitudes about life!!!

Claire had a VERY special dinner last night in honor of Brett's birthday and I appreciated SO much being invited!!! Bob and Alice Ezell and I spent the evening of Brett's birthday with him and I awakened this morning feeling SO much younger because I sat through the movie "Labyrinth" without going to sleep - Ha!!! I think that's the name of it. I have NEVER seen a movie like that and I'll have to admit I would like to see it again and absorb it better. Claire said it was Brett's favorite movie and he has watched it many times. Claire's dinner was just delicious - turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, sweet potatoes, cranberries, green salad and then after the movie we had Brett's chocolate birthday cake - I LOVED IT!!! Bob could stay during the dinner but then he had to go back to church to help with the tithing settlement and other things. Claire said Bob had been called several times during the night to go to the hospital - I hope he doesn't completely wear himself out!!!

I have had an absolutely WONDERFUL Christmas and I hope all of you have too. We all met at Jean and Ricks' home on Christmas Eve and Jeannie had prepared a delicious "sit down" dinner - chili, cheese soup, spinach balls, cream cheese with pepper jelly (from Roy and Patrice), green salad and hot rolls. THEN we made butter mints and we had SUCCESS!!! Actually we had one failure. I am SO proud of the men in our family for not giving up because it was HARD - I think they took longer to cook than I remember but maybe not. The children all helped pull and cut and it is SO fun to eat them now because I can see how the little hands had such a big part in it.

It was almost midnight before we left the Weinert's home and John drove back to Orem (I knew he would) so he could take care of Moki and Tar. THEN everyone came to my condo on Christmas day and I had made Wayne Smith's seafood gumbo and John helped me set the table with bagels and meats for sandwiches. THEN we went to the Weinerts because they called Ricky in El Salvador and we all got to talk to him. THEN we all went to our separate homes. I was thrilled because Mary Ann came over later and spent some time with me and we sat by my Christmas tree with the fireplace going and it was SO special. Her friend boy, Matt Steed, was at a dinner with his family in my neighbor's condo and he came over and visited for awhile.

Yesterday, Sunday, my church started at 8:30 a.m. and I awakened at 8:05 - I couldn't believe it. I hurried and got ready to go but I looked like I just got up. Our ward just had one meeting, Sacrament, so I was home by 10:a.m. and I went right back to bed - Ha!!! It has been a busy week for all of us - I worked until midnight most of the month of December - I'm sure my job will be discontinued but I have enjoyed it very much and I'm SO happy I have done it.

Chris and Dianne have called me this morning and I have talked at least an hour to each one of them so I will have to finish this letter later. John is going to come up for a little while this morning and I promised him I would be ready and I have about 15 minutes to get dressed. He has a doctor's appointment in Salt Lake and is coming here enroute. I'll finish this later.

It's now almost 2 o'clock p.m. and I started my letter about 10 o'clock a.m. - Chris, Dianne and Dorothy all called to wish me a Happy Birthday and I couldn't just say "goodbye". John came while Dorothy called and fortunately she heard the doorbell so we could hang up. THEN Carol Ann called but we didn't answer the phone and she left a message - I tried to call her yesterday but they weren't home - they sent me a lovely poinsettia plant and I wanted to thank them.

John and I went to ZCMI to look at some dishes for him - I guess he is using paper plates, etc. He didn't decide on any so he will continue to look - he had to hurry to his doctor's appointment. We ran into Jeannie and Barji while we were there - that was fun!!! John looks SO good and I should get inspired to lose weight just looking at him but I am SO weak when it comes to eating. Annie had a darling "Hershey Chocolate Kiss" Christmas tree in her home when I was there last and I ran into the friend who made it for her. This friend told me that she admired Ann so much because she disciplined herself to only eat three of those kisses a day so she wouldn't gain any weight. I SHOULD BE SO WELL DISCIPLINED!!! My big thing right now is "Cinnamon Bears" and when they started selling the chocolate cinnamon bears at ZCMI that did me in!!!

We have REALLY missed the Woolleys, the Roy Mellors and Ricky. I worried because I didn't hear from Annie before they left for Hawaii but Jeannie said she talked to her and she said she was a "crazy woman" trying to get ready to go. I can't get Jessie off my mind - she will have more eye surgery the first week in January. The doctors wanted to wait until she was old enough to have this type of surgery after her accident over ten years ago. We all talked about Roy and Patrice on Christmas day because I made the seafood gumbo and then sprinkled some of their jalapeño pepper liquid on it and it just added so much. I was surprised at how much Bob enjoyed it - he has always been quite hesitant about "hot" things!!!

When John came up this morning he told me that Wayne Hacking had passed away - do you all remember him? When Daddy was diagnosed with prostate cancer Wayne was the first one to come and encourage us - he had had prostate cancer at that time for about 7 years. He told us to juice carrots because that had cured him - SO I started giving Daddy carrot juice and he drank enough to make him turn orange and then he stopped. They put those radiation pellets in Wayne and it cured his cancer but ruined many other things and his quality of life has not been very good. Mae, Wayne's wife, will go straight to heaven because of the way she has treated Wayne for the last twenty years of his life - she has truly been an angel and I admire her very much. Wayne would have been 86 in January. His funeral is Wednesday in my old ward building and I will go.

I am going to go to Star Valley, Wyoming on Thursday to be with my neighbor, Margaret, in her beautiful Wyoming Lodge - there will be other condo and ward friends. Some of them are going tomorrow but I will go on Thursday or Friday with another couple that can't get away sooner. They are going to go snowmobiling but I'm not sure I will do that - I am so afraid of breaking "something" when I do things like that. I told Margaret I couldn't go because I didn't have that kind of clothing and she said "Oh we have plenty of clothes up there" - we'll see!!! It will be SO much fun to ring in the New Year 2000 with friends

Ellen Mae just came and I can't finish this now because I have to go to Margaret's to plan the food for this weekend. This has been quite a day - I'll finish this later.

It is 11 p.m. and I am determined to finish this before I go to bed. I appreciate SO very much all my friends and family remembering my birthday - this has been such a fun and busy day for me. I have talked on the phone way too long but everyone who called had such a lot of news that I was interested in. Chris Jordin had called the Lucas family in Ft. Worth and talked to Marge and Marilyn - Marilyn told her that her mother was in the final stages of her liver disease but that she would like to talk to her. Chris said she was her same old self and wanted to know all the gossip of our friends in Little Rock - I guess that's a good sign. Marilyn and Barbie are taking turns coming home to care for her - Marilyn has a very good job in the East somewhere and Barbie is a pediatrician in California. Dianne had lots of news about her family and is worried because Jaime and Jannie are not finding the kind of boyfriends at BYU that she had hoped for. Dorothy and Dan told me they are selling their home in Leawood and have bought another home in "Westside" which is West of Little Rock - they want one on one level because Dorothy has arthritis in her hips and legs. They also told me that Maxine (Roy Bass' second wife) is very ill and confined to bed and lives with her daughter. I talked to Terry and she is home with her five dogs - can you imagine that? She said her mother wasn't very happy to have them but she was coping okay. She also told me that they have won many ribbons and awards and they live in her home with her and sleep with her - her Christmas card had a picture of all of them and they are BIG. John - she wanted me to ask you if you could get your dogs to sit for a picture like hers do. I also talked to Dana and she said they have goats on their property and they milk them for milk for their children. I believe that Carol is the only normal one of the bunch!!! She is in Chandler, Arizona.

I just came home from Jeannie and Ricks' home. They had invited me to go for a Family Home Evening with the Summerhays and the Steeds and they also invited Margaret. It was such a lovely evening!!! They had the "chimes" that Ann and Ron gave all of us for Christmas a few years ago and we had a WONDERFUL time - the Steeds had little children and they were just spell bound as we made music with them. We made the music and sang many Christmas songs. It has been a family tradition for the Weinerts to do that with different friends and I hope all of you are using yours because they are VERY special. Then everyone participated in a program - Mary Summerhays sang and she has a beautiful voice, Mary Ann and Sarah played a violin duet, Mary Ann played a violin solo, Barji played a piano solo, and then Bob Steed played Ricky's guitar and their family sang - it was all just beautiful. THEN we went downstairs and Jeannie read a simple Christmas story.

It was WONDERFUL to come home and find that Bob and Claire had been here. My refrigerator door has been broken for quite a long time and I just hated to call a repair man - it's expensive and they are also so undependable. I told Bob about it and he ordered a part and I thought it would be months before it would come - it came today and he came over tonight and fixed my door - I couldn't believe it!!! Something was broken at the bottom and it wouldn't shut unless I lifted up on it. It is SO wonderful to have sons who can fix ANYTHING and I appreciate it so very much!!! I try really hard to be careful but things just break!!!

THANK ALL OF YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH FOR A WONDERFULLY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND BIRTHDAY. I LOVE YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH. PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO. Grandma B