April 10, 2000 Farmington, Utah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JESSIE TOMORROW - WOW, SHE WILL BE TWENTY YEARS OLD!!! I'm SO proud of Jessie and all she has accomplished and I hope she has a WONDERFUL birthday!!! I love it when she comes to spend the night with me and I wish she could come more often.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JEANNIE NEXT SUNDAY - WOW, YOU WILL BE THIRTY SOMETHING!!! I'm proud of you too and all you have accomplished and I hope you have a WONDERFUL birthday!!! Jeannie and Rick have been "putting in their yard" and it looks SO pretty!!!

PATRICE - Thank you for your message this morning. I sent you my travel itinerary last Friday so you should be getting it soon - let me know if you don't. I'm excited to come and be with all of you - especially Emily, Timothy and Jesse. John said "Oh Mom, Jesse has really grown since last Summer" and it reminded me of my chasing him around the sofas in my den and both of us laughing - I probably wouldn't be able to catch him now. I hope I will be able to visit their schools and meet their teachers.

JOHN - Thank you for calling me before you left town for New Orleans. I hope you have a good time there but I'll bet it will be REALLY hot and humid!!! I asked him about how his dogs would get along and he said, "Oh, they will be fine, Michael is in charge". Michael will be moving back to Layton in a few weeks and John, Mokie and Tar will miss him. Thank you SO much for taking care of my income tax preparations - I hope they will be finished in time for me to sign them this weekend. John told me that when the deadline comes on a Saturday they extend it until the following Monday. I'll try to be more careful in keeping the things I need this year.

ANNIE AND JEANNIE - Thank you for your e-mail messages - what a wonderful way to communicate!!! It is much easier than trying to get you on the phone. I heard the other day that cell phones would take the place of phones, as I have known them, in about ten years. I am thinking that e-mail will take the place of all kinds of phones and that is kinda' sad because it is so good to actually hear a voice once in awhile. I had a telephone message from my sweet friend Somjit who was calling from Thailand - I wasn't here so she left a message and I don't want to erase it - Ha!!! Lee Anna - congratulations for winning the election for your class secretary - I think that is GREAT - it is so important to be involved in your school activities. Jimmy and his friend Karissa Roney are running for some office in their school and that will be fun too. Sarah - congratulations for being chosen as a D-Ette at Davis High - Barji loved that and I'm sure you will too.

BRETT - I'm betting you have started your soccer games. I hope I will be able to watch you play in some of them. KATIE - are you playing this Summer too? You can't do everything can you? It's WONDERFUL that you have so many choices.

I will go to Provo tomorrow to attend the burial and memorial services for Kevin Sondrup. I still can't believe he died in such a short time - it has been about five months since he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He and Barbara attended the championship ice hockey game in which their son played about three weeks ago and

they dedicated the game to Kevin - it's amazing that he was well enough to go to that. Dianne and Garry are coming from California for the services and I'm sure Linda will be there and it will be good to see them. I haven't seen Barbara since we were all together a year ago. I'm wondering if she will stay in Georgia or move back to Utah since she has two daughters and two granddaughters here now. She LOVES Georgia!!!

I have heard lots of things about the Palmyra Temple Dedication that was telecast to the Stake Centers throughout the world. That was certainly a memorable occasion - you had to have interviews from your Bishops to receive a ticket and they were held early in the morning and then again in the evening last Thursday on April 6th which was the date of the organization of the church. I didn't go but I have heard the Stake Centers were packed - some people thought the pictures were not very good and others thought the whole thing was excellent. You can't please everyone!!!

I went to the Oakridge Country Club with Margaret and some other friends yesterday after church. We had their brunch and it was SO good. We are having just beautiful weather and the golf club lawns are manicured - I live in a beautiful place with some very nice friends. I hope all of you are doing good and are happy!!!

RICKY - it is fun to read the missionary letters that my friends in Russia send to me. They are having a lot of success in Russia. I have been interested in reading about the dinners they have at their zone conferences - some of them are prepared by the Lady Missionaries. That was always a problem in Montana - some of the wards were willing to prepare the food but others didn't want to be bothered and I didn't blame them. The missionaries are always SO hungry. My friends in Little Rock still have them for dinner every night and I admire that very much - Chris feeds them once a week and it's funny - she prefers the Elders to the Sisters - Ha!!!