July 2, 2000 Farmington, Utah

It is a beautiful HOT Summer day here in Farmington!!! Our church was SO cold this morning with air conditioning that I am trying to get thawed out at home. I keep forgetting to take a jacket or sweater and after sitting for three hours in frigid rooms I am glad to get in my hot car and come home - I am convinced the men in the church who wear jackets control the thermostats.

I have thought about BOB and CLAIRE for the past three or four days - they have been "Ma and Pa" with the youth of their church as they went to Wyoming on the "Pioneer Trek". I know they have had a fun time but CLAIRE broke her little toe the day before they left so she has been in one extra WIDE shoe and the other one her normal size so it has been a challenge for her. They would be expected to do a lot of hiking so I'm anxious to hear how it went. We have had some of the hottest weather of the year while they were gone too so that would complicate things. Laura and Brett went with them - Katie has been with her Ezell and Ferner cousins at Aspen Grove in Provo and I imagine Michael has had "A Ball" being with his friends.

I am VERY proud of my family - you all give so much of yourselves and especially to the youth and I think that is HARD. ANNIE has been to their Stake Youth Conference where she was in charge of her ward's activities and knowing her she had LOTS planned. I have learned that ANN'S writing talents are limited to her professional career - Ha!!!

I am ALWAYS SO thrilled to have JOHN answer my e-mails even though he isn't even in town. I sent him a message and his reply was from Dallas saying he would be home that evening. He surely does a lot of traveling and it's great that he can depend on his next door neighbors to take care of Tar and Mokie - they have a little baby boy and he loves the dogs so that is an incentive.

I was out fertilizing my roses in my backyard the other afternoon and looked up and I saw two golf carts coming towards me. RICK and Lynn Summerhays were in one and BARJI and Boyd were in the other one - they were having a tournament - Ha!!! Boyd said he and Barji were winning. There is a great article in the Deseret News today about Boyd and his brother, Danny. I finally learned something about Boyd's golf plans after reading that.

July and August are going to be very busy but fun months. The WOOLLEYS have sent invitations to the family for activities at their home on Tuesday, July 4th. I have complicated matters for this by inviting my Thai teacher friends but I know they will be an asset and fun. I have planned a "Brides, Friends and Cousins" luncheon at Oakridge Country Club for Thursday, July 6th and I want BARJI and SUSANNA to come to my condo after and have pictures taken of them in my bridal gown that is 53 years old. CLAIRE will be involved in Girl's Camp July 11 - 14th and then MICHAEL goes into the MTC on the 19th. Lake Powell starts that week so BOB and CLAIRE will head for that after leaving MICHAEL.. RICKY will get home on July 20th and I'm looking forward to welcoming him at the airport - it has been over three years since I have seen him. Then BOYD and BARJI will have their wedding July 28th with many lovely receptions planned for that. Then STEVE and SUSANNA will have their wedding August 12th with lovely receptions and luncheons planned and the following week there will be an open house for them in Destin, Florida. I hope everything will be fun and VERY memorable!!!

I had a phone message from Cheryl on Thursday night telling me that Don was in the intensive care unit at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake and he had had a heart attack. She said they didn't expect him to live through a surgery but if they sent him home he would have another heart attack that would kill him for sure. They were going to give him sedatives early Friday morning before his operation so I hurried and went to the hospital that morning before they put him out. He looked just awful but he had been there for a week waiting for his "e-coli" and "lung infection" to clear up. I stayed for awhile but he was asleep so I left and Cheryl called me that night telling me they had done a 4-by pass surgery and she would keep me posted. I haven't heard from her again so I am assuming everything is going okay.

RICK - I appreciate so very much your going to check on Don on Friday. Cheryl also said how much they appreciated it. I felt bad that I had gone before you got there but I couldn't see any sense in staying while he slept and their son, Bert, was with Cheryl.

PATRICE - do you like your new job? I hope things are working out for you at work and also at home. If they don't work out for you at home they don't work out for you at work, do they? There is a new couple in our ward who just returned from serving a mission in Arkansas - I am her new visiting teacher but I haven't met her. It will be fun to become acquainted and learn where they served. I go swimming every morning and I miss EMILY, TIMOTHY AND JESSE - I wish they could be here to go with me.

This is mostly for my "journal"...I forgot to tell you about a party I went to at Helen Jane and Roy Lemons' home Tuesday. I have had a Summer Party for many years to honor Ellen Mae for her birthday in May. I didn't have it this year because she and Mel were out of town and besides that she puts up such a fuss about having a birthday party.

Well - Helen Jane called and said they wanted to have a "get together" at their home. They live in Willard and I have only been to their home twice in all the years they have lived there. They live on 65 acres (most of it is in fruit orchards and corn). It is a gorgeous place - they have seven children and Helen Jane and I were best friends all through high school and she really hasn't changed. She works in Real Estate and Roy and one of his sons work in their orchards.

We had such a good time. The following couples were there; Clint and Eris Holmes, Merlin and Roberta Larsen, Melba and Dale Baron, Ellen Mae (Mel had a lot of teeth pulled that day so he couldn't go), Marian and Malcolm Jeppsen and Mel and Emma Lou Thayne. Emma Lou had just been presented with an honorary "Doctorate of Humanities" at the University of Utah Summer School graduation ceremonies. We all brought salads and Roy bar-b-cued chicken breasts that had been marinated in something very good and they were SO tender.

I ALSO NEED TO TELL YOU THAT THE WEINERTS DO NOT HAVE INTERNET SO JEANNIE CANNOT SEND E-MAILS. They have tried different ways of getting connected and have finally decided to wait until after the wedding. ANNIE - she wanted me to tell you that she will bring a salad on the Fourth.