March 13, 2000 Farmington, Utah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EMILY THIS NEXT SUNDAY!!! You will be 12 years old - what kind of a birthday party will you have? I was talking to Katie about "your birthdays" the other day and she hasn't decided what she will do for her birthday - last year she had an "American Girl" party. Maybe one of these years you will be able to celebrate your birthdays together - that would be fun. Since your birthday is on a Sunday you may have a "family party" - that would be fun too!!!

I have heard from each one of you this week so it has been a happy week for me. Thanks to PATRICE , EMILY AND JOHN for letting me hear from them!!! I don't expect to hear from you every week but I worry when it goes a long, long time without hearing from you.

PATRICE - Thank you for telling me about your garden. ROY - you are just like your Dad - he LOVED to plant everything he could find and watch it grow. Have you planted tomatoes or just the cold weather veggies? We can't plant tomatoes until after Mother' Day because it is just too cold here. I THINK IT IS WONDERFUL THAT YOU HAVE A GARDEN!!! What kinds of seed have you planted and where have you put them. I loved to hear about Timothy and Jesses' soccer and basketball games. Timothy - how did you do in your basketball tournament.

EMILY - I am SO happy you have your very own e-mail address and I LOVE your letters. I want to hear about your "band camp" in Arkadelphia. Your school sounds just WONDERFUL and I am very happy that you like it so much - do you go to Middle School for 6th, 7th and 8th and then High School for 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th? I think President Clinton did a lot for the school system while he was Governor of Arkansas don't you? I hope you have a good time at the "Heifer Ranch" for your Spring break and also spending time at Grandma Susie's home.

JOHN - Thank you for your phone calls. It was WONDERFUL to see you yesterday at the Woolley's home for dinner. I haven't seen you eat with "gusto" for a long, long time and when I said that to Ann she said, "Oh, he always eats like that when he is here" so I guess it is just my cooking. It will always be hard for me to see people "pick" at food!!!

Annie had invited me for dinner and when Margaret and I came home from church I decided to invite her to ride to Provo with me. She said, "You had better call Ann and see if it is okay" - I said, "Oh, she won't care one single bit " and she didn't. It was just WONDERFUL to be so welcome in their home and the dinner was GREAT!!! It was also WONDERFUL to be with Michael - he is a great young man. Susanna had two friend boys she had brought home from school and they are also great young men. They are from Destin, Florida and attending BYU - one of them is in accounting and hoping to get into law school and his brother who was with him is just starting school after his mission in Brazil. It was quite a coincidence - he was in the same mission as Margaret's grandson but they didn't know each other.

I was happy to see Ron too - it has been a long, long time since I have seen him. He was late in coming home from church - the Bishop of their ward was out of town so Ron had to be in charge and that is stressful. Russell, Lee Anna and Jimmy were with us too and I thought Jessie said it all when she said to me "I love it when our whole family is here". Jessie had stopped on her way home from Logan on Saturday to visit with me for a little while and I LOVED THAT! Her eye is still giving her a few problems but she says it is much better - it is still a little red.

Katie has made a little scrapbook of her school activities including book reports she has illustrated and also awards from the "Reflections Contests" she has been in and also her piano achievements - Claire loaned the book to me and I have LOVED reading it. Katie is a very talented little artist - she must get that talent from her Mom's side of the family - Ha!!!

Sarah is going to give a report on the country of Thailand so she asked if she could borrow some of my "Things". I could open a museum with all my "stuff" and I have found that I am really the only one interested in it. I was asked to give a little report on Thai Relief Societies at our ward's Relief Society Birthday Party last Wednesday but the time got short so I just barely touched the surface of what I had prepared. The thing they were most interested in was that green Thai dress I brought home and then I wore the pink Thai outfit and it was SO tight I could hardly breathe. I must go on a diet - Ha!!!

I took Margaret around our property in Lehi. I always enjoy riding by the farm and Stan has a lot of cows on it now. They are calving and I think it is a little early. It is beautiful at this time of the year when the trees are budding out. Don and Cheryl came to see me on Wednesday and then they took me to the Hillfield Bx and the commissary. The groceries in the commissary are quite a bit cheaper than in the stores in town. Don doesn't act very sharp but I believe his physical condition is better.

Ricky - it is fun to read the quotes from the missionaries in Russia that the Mission President sends to me. They are always so positive and are thrilled with the work they are doing. Your Mom tells me you are opening up a new area again and your companion has been ill - that makes it SO hard!!! Things ALWAYS improve in time though don't they???