January 10, 2000 Farmington, Utah

WOW - what a snowstorm we are having!!! It is the first one during the day that I have seen and it is beautiful. They had a snowstorm like this while I was in Star Valley and then we have had them during the night but not in the day. I'm glad I don't have to get out this morning.

When I came to the computer a few minutes ago I had a letter from my friends in Russia and they told about the cold and snow there so I guess it is "WINTERTIME". I love to read their letters because they remind me SO much of the time we spent in Montana and they are experiencing many of the same things. Marc Hall is President of one of the missions there and he told about going to a "theatre" where they hold their zone conferences and the heat wasn't on so they all had to get their coats and try to keep warm. They always include some quotes from their missionaries in their letters (a nice idea) and it is absolutely remarkable to read how much they love their missions and the people with whom they are working. I think about Ricky as I read their letters because he is loving his mission too.

I also had more letters from my friends in Thailand - I would never have thought I could have corresponded with people from all over the world in my old age. The internet is such a source of joy to me and I know I spend too much time on the computer but it is much easier than hand writing letters and I love the people I correspond with. I am finding that I don't keep in contact with many of my friends because they don't have e-mail - like Chris Jordin!!! My sweet friends in Bangkok, Lek and Anan, are getting married this weekend and they write and tell me all their plans. I tried to get them married while I was there but they couldn't make up their minds. It is SO interesting to compare their wedding plans with some of those here - Anan and his mother and sister will travel to the Southern part of Thailand where Lek's Father lives and they will spend most of their time preparing food for five monks who will perform the ceremony. One thing is for sure - they REALLY do love each other. Virginia and I started teaching them when we first moved to Thailand and we noticed that Anan was SO protective of Lek and she was SO independent and it has taken him this long to convince her to marry him - Ha!!!

TIMOTHY AND JESSE - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LETTERS. I am always SO THRILLED when I hear from you and I can't believe how well you write letters. I think of you as still being in pre-school I guess!!! Timothy, I LOVE your pictures describing how you will spend your money - you are SO much like your Dad and you will put a lot of thought into your spending. If you were in my home right now you would snuggle up with your blankets to read or watch television. PATRICE - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LETTER TOO. I am happy to learn what a "lock-in" is. Emily had written that she was going to a lock-in at their church (it is a "sleep over" where they don't plan to sleep). I'm SO glad you were all together for New Years.

JESSIE - I AM THRILLED YOUR SURGERY IS OVER AND IT WAS SUCCESSFUL. I thought it was going to be on Thursday and when I called to see how it went Annie said, "Oh, Jessie is skiing because she won't have the surgery until Friday". Annie called early Friday morning and said everything went fine. It makes me tired just talking to Ann - she has started back to work and on Friday she was having Ron's company Christmas/New Year dinner at her home besides taking care of Jessie and taking her back for a checkup at 6 p.m. just before the party. Jessie drove back to Logan yesterday and Ann and Ron were relieved when she got there - they kept talking to her on her cell phone. She's a "real go-getter"!!!

JOHN - THANK YOU FOR YOUR MANY PHONE CALLS. I love to pick up the phone and hear, "Mom, it's John" - HA!!! It makes me very happy to think of Michael and John being together and they are having fun - I think Michael may be starving to death but they will work it out. Michael is enjoying college so far - there was a big article in the paper yesterday about UVSC. One of the legislators wants to change the name to a university status - Utah Valley University - so they can have more advanced degrees. It won't happen for several years but that is such a good school and getting better all the time. John - did you know that Shawna Theobald is on the faculty there? She is teaching in the accounting department.

Barji and Jeannie have had lots of fun being together during Barji's Christmas school break. Barji went back to school yesterday too and I'm SO happy she and Jessie got there before the weather turned bad. It is SO fun for me to have some of my grandchildren at Utah State - that is also such a good school.

CLAIRE AND JEANNIE - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HELPING ME!!! I am back among the living today after having a siege with that darn old flu bug. I had no idea anyone could be that sick and still live - Ha!!! I came home from Star Valley with it but it wasn't really bad until Saturday morning and I awakened with a horrible headache and nausea. Ellen Mae came by early that morning with a casserole for me and after she left I hurried to bed before I fainted - Jeannie called and when she found out I was sick she came over and the same thing happened when I got up to open the door for her. I called Claire to see if Bob could get me some anti-biotics - he was out of town but she came right over and explained that they wouldn't help me and she insisted that I take Advil. I had been taking it all week but decided on Saturday to see if I could do without it. ANYWAY - I appreciate SO VERY MUCH the delicious soups and the beautiful flowers and I am "on the mend" and I will be much more sympathetic with people who are sick from now on. I kept saying, "I can't believe I am so sick" and Jeannie would say, "Mom, it affects the elderly worse" - small consolation - Ha!!!

BOB AND CLAIRE - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING TO SEE ME LAST NIGHT. I love it when they drop by "just to visit". I had been watching the videos "Pride and Prejudice" and will finish them today - there are six volumes. It is SO funny - I had just finished reading the children's version of that classic. I had read the adult one many years ago.

I have all my Christmas decorations down and that is a relief. I put a plastic bag over my Christmas tree with all the decorations still on it and put it in the garage and I hope I can put the other decorations in a box and keep them in the garage too so it will be easy to put them back out again next year - WOW, am I ever getting lazy!!! The condo area has been so beautiful this year with all the lights on the street and I have had a WONDERFUL holiday season. I did a terrible job this year with my Christmas cards but I will do better next year.

It is my goal this week to get caught up with all my correspondence. I talked with Janet Asper last night and we laughed about how difficult it is to answer letters from our friends in Thailand when we don't know to whom we are writing. We used their "nicknames" while we worked with them but they use their real names when they write to us and their names are "unreal" - they are SO long and practically impossible to pronounce. Some of my missionary friends went back to Bangkok recently and they brought me a special pin that had been made to commemorate the King's 72nd birthday - this pin was sent by the Thailand Government for my work as a volunteer teacher. It seems they just can't do enough to express their appreciation. They printed up a letter that said our work represented millions of dollars that was given freely - Ha!!!

I'm pretty sure this will be my last week at ZCMI - I have enjoyed that so much!!! They will be closing the store for the last two weeks in January and then the May Company will officially take over and things will change. I believe they will keep the ZCMI name for a long time but I could be wrong and no one seems to know. THEY HAVE BEEN VERY NICE TO ME!!!