October 2, 2000 Farmington, Utah

I just came home from having a delicious salmon dinner with the Weinerts and that in itself isn't so unusual but what I did is unusual and quite bold!!! My friend, Vicky, from Afton, Wyoming dropped in this afternoon so I invited her to go with me. Jeannie and her family didn't get home from church until 5:30 so there wasn't time to call Jeannie and ask her if it would be okay - can you relate to that Annie??? They were all so gracious and the first thing I noticed was how quickly Mary Ann hurried to put another place mat and setting on the table without saying a word. Vicky JUST LOVED IT!!! I am SO proud of my family and love to have my friends be with them. The dinner was fabulous and to top it off, Sarah had made brownies and sent many home with me. Vicky's last missionary companion in Bangkok just came home on Friday from her mission and invited Vickie to meet her at the airport so she did and then stayed with her in Salt Lake until today. Vicky is a different person but she has a good family and is fun to be around - she had four hours to drive after she left here so you can tell she really wanted to be here. Matt was with us also and it was exactly like a Sunday family dinner is supposed to be and I appreciate my family so much - Rick had been in church meetings all day and I believe I heard Jeannie say she had to deliver invitations for a shower after I left - BUSY PEOPLE!!! THANK YOU WEINERTS.

JOHN - THANK YOU FOR YOUR LETTERS AND ESPECIALLY THANK YOU FOR YOUR VISIT ON TUESDAY!!! John had business in Logan so he stopped by and had lunch with me and I LOVED IT!!! He is SO busy traveling and I know he has every minute of every day planned - he had to catch a plane for New York after he left my condo. I was THRILLED to have him tell me he had sold his motorcycle - I HATE THOSE!!! It was interesting for you to look up the tax value of the cabin and I appreciate it very much. I will never sell it for $17,000 (plus) but for tax purposes I guess I am happy it is that low. Right after Daddy passed away there was a Real Estate sign on the cabin and I wonder if it would be a good idea to have it appraised that way - we'll wait and see if anyone is interested in it at $30,000.

Cheryl called me on Friday and she was quite upset. She had received a letter from a Title Company saying the property on the farm included 20 feet of another person's property. John sent me a letter saying he had received the same letter. That seems SO strange to me and we won't sign anything - I'm sure the titles we have received are all legal and they have

CLAIRE - Thank you for your letter too - I'm SO glad you had such a good time in Washington D. C. I LOVED hearing about the letter you received from Michael - his Mission President sounds like a wonderful man and one Michael has felt good about right from the beginning which is very important. I laughed and laughed about the language problems he is having - WOW - can I ever relate to that. I don't believe there is anything more frustrating than trying to communicate with people when you can't understand each other - you can use sign language just so much. He sounds happy and anxious to do what he has been sent there to do and I'm proud of him. Laura did a WONDERFUL job of "being in charge". Katie and I had a lot of fun trying to find her piano teacher's home. I asked a church friend of mine to help me with the directions (she also has a girl taking lessons from the same teacher) and if I had used your directions I wouldn't have had any problems. She didn't tell me about the second red light. I was ready to turn around and go another way when Katie shouted "There is her house - I'm positive". I can find it easy now if you ever need me again - Ha!!! I'm SO happy that Claire's father has had a successful knee operation and he is doing GREAT. I believe this is the second knee operation he has had.

BOB - I'm proud of you for going to Mexico. I hope you're home by now - Claire said you would be home Sunday night. I believe he has gone there to complete some medical cases and also to pack up his equipment and bring it back to the states because they are not going to Mexico anymore for safety reasons. They are planning to do their humanitarian work in Guatemala and that is WONDERFUL!!! I'll be glad to have you home safe and sound and I know your family will be too.

ANNIE - Thank you for your letter too. I haven't heard anymore from Bryant, the photographer, but I don't really expect to for awhile. Jeannie told me that you and Lee Anna and Jimmy are going to Nauvoo this week - WHAT A GREAT THING TO DO. I believe Ron has business in that area and you will all meet him so you can be together. Has your family been there before - I can't remember. I hope you have a WONDERFUL time and will tell us all about it.

ROY, PATRICE, EMILY, TIMOTHY AND JESSE - we haven't heard from you for a long, long time. I hope you are doing fine. Chris has called me several times and she tells me your weather is much better and I'm betting your Fall leaves are just beautiful. Sometimes when you have a dry Summer they aren't as vivid as with a wet Summer - WHAT DO I KNOW?

I have had a fun week. Margaret invited me to go to a "One Man Show" held in Kingsbury Hall at the University of Utah and it was good. The name of it was "Rob Becker's Defending the Caveman" and according to the booklet on it he performed it 700 times before leaving New York on Broadway. I don't hear well enough to catch all the little jokes but he had the audience practically rolling in the aisles so I know he was funny. It was packed and Margaret and "her guest" were invited to a private party held downstairs and that was special - they took us on a tour of the newly renovated performers dressing rooms and I can't believe how elaborate they are. We had front row seats in the balcony and really had the V.I.P. treatment. Margaret is very modest but she is VERY well thought of in all of Utah.

Margaret also took me to the Utah State football game in Logan yesterday and of course, I LOVED THAT. Utah State lost but it was fun and the condo friends who went together always enjoy each other so much. Governor Leavitt and his wife were at the game - they are "Aggie Alumni". We went to the tail gate party for platinum card members before the game and had hamburgers and the trimmings and then after the game on the way home we stopped in Ogden and had a Mexican dinner. We have 50 yard seats and the weather was football perfect and it brought back so many memories of 53 years ago. Daddy and I were married 53 years ago today. I kept looking for Ricky, Russell and Jessie but I couldn't find them - they had over 29,000 people there so I guess that explains it. I LOVE Utah State and Logan and many things are the same as when I was there as a student - I'm SO glad some of my grandchildren decided to go there.

I worked at the temple twice this week - I substituted for a lady on Thursday in the afternoon and I was amazed at how different the afternoon sessions are as compared to the morning shifts. Saturday mornings are very, very busy - I told them I wanted the hardest times they had to fill but I really didn't understand there would be such a difference. My condo friends waited for me to get home from the temple yesterday before leaving for Logan - I didn't get home until almost noon and we were to meet some other friends in Logan at 1:30.

Have you all enjoyed the Olympics as much as I have? I especially enjoyed the gymnastics - they scare me but I admire those young men and women who are so committed to doing everything perfectly. Salt Lake has a "hard act to follow" after seeing what Sydney, Australia has done. Vicky's son grew up with the young man from Afton, Wyoming who won the gold medal in wrestling and she told me today that Afton has gone wild with his win. He is one of nine children and Vicky told me his first wife was killed in an automobile accident so he has had his tragedies. He now lives in Colorado where he is in college. Can you imagine a town the size of Afton raising enough money to send 15 of his family to Sydney for the Olympics - Afton is a very small farming community.

I was thrilled this morning when they sustained another lady to be in the nursery. The Weinerts know her - Iris Koci. She is a performer in many of the Rogers Theatre Performances and she will be VERY GOOD in the nursery. There are three ladies in there now - a husband of one of them is supposed to be there but he drives a truck and hasn't been home on weekends for the last month. We have the theory that if we keep the children's mouths full they won't cry so we feed them all the time - pretzels, cookies, graham crackers and water - Ha!!! I took pumpkins for each one of them this morning and also crayola markers so they could color them and they loved that. If you have any ideas let me know.