November 20, 2000 Farmington, Utah

Jesse - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SWEET LETTER. I love to put your letters on your wall boards so I can see them when I go downstairs. You are a good writer and I'm very proud of you!!!

My letter is very late this week!!! I told John I wanted to pack up his kitchen things and also his linens so I left yesterday right after Sacrament meeting and drove to Orem and I didn't come home until this afternoon. It was fun to be in his home and remember all the wonderful things I loved about it and I thought Daddy and I would be there for forever. I couldn't help but think how foolish we were to buy such a large home and yard when he was 67 and I was 62. He worked so hard and loved landscaping the yard and making it beautiful so it was really worth it. I kept "suggesting" that we buy a condo when we found out his cancer was terminal but he would always say, "that is like giving up". SO he bought a dilapidated cabin and worked hard fixing that up too. I guess that is what is called "therapy" - Ha!!!

I parked my car in John's garage yesterday so my neighbors wouldn't come over to visit with me but this afternoon I parked in the driveway and spent the last two hours visiting and it was fun. Shauna Theobald came over first and told me how sad they were when Tar ran away, then Vonnie came over and she has just had a shoulder replacement and she is living by herself and doing fine and then Janae Anderson came over and asked for a key so they could show John's home to anyone interested in buying it. They all just love John and feel sad that he is moving. I told her I would let John handle that. Vonnie is also selling her home and she said it was sold for three months on condition the people would sell their home but it fell through.

John has worked SO hard packing his things and going through EVERYTHING!!! I laughed as he explained the mess he has been in - he said there have been three people living in that home who have never completely moved out. Daddy moved in and of course he didn't move out, and I lived there and didn't completely move out and then Julianna lived there and she didn't completely move out either. John has done a GREAT job in making an inventory of the things he has packed in boxes. Roy - you said once that you wanted Daddy's "fly tying box" so I brought it home for you.

I REALLY wanted Moki as I said in my last letter and actually looked forward to having her with me. John explained that he was worried that it just "wouldn't work out" so last Thursday he took her to her new home. He has given her to a good friend who bought one of her puppies - this family is moving to Atlanta and the Father will be working with the same company as John so they'll keep in touch and that will be good. John said that was one of the hardest things he has ever done. Moki has spent a lot of time in the house with John since Tar ran away and she is the sweetest and most gentle dog I have ever been around and I think Sammie will be the same way when she gets a little older. I was there last week one day and she just followed me around all day.

John is in New York today and then he will go to Atlanta and then come home for Thanksgiving. Right after Thanksgiving he will go to Israel for two weeks. He is in for a BIG adventure and it will be fun for all of us to keep up with him.

Bob - Thank you SO much for your reports about the "Cloud Forest"!!! I honestly couldn't imagine why in the world you were going to Costa Rica but now it makes sense. I laugh when I read about how brave your children are and how very apprehensive you are - your experiences really sound very dangerous to me and I'll be glad when you're home. I saw one of your secretaries at the temple on Saturday morning and she told me you had gone - I know you had told me you would be gone from Saturday to Saturday but the time passed so fast. We will miss you on Thursday but I'm SO happy you are taking advantage of the time when you can do things like this with your family - as you well know, your children grow up much too fast.

PATRICE - Thank you SO much for the beautiful card painted by the artist who has a showing at the Arts Center now. I am SO happy to have a member of my family who is very involved in such cultural events as you are. I am looking forward to having a tour by you of the Arts Center - I always remember when you taught me how to use the computer to find books at the Orem library - I am SO dumb about things like that. I am THRILLED that you and your sisters are going to celebrate your Mom's 70th birthday. What a thrill it will be for her to have you all there together. "Seventy" is a really big milestone and I'm proud of her - wish I could come and help her celebrate!!!

ANNIE - Thank you SO much for your e-mail messages concerning Thanksgiving. I am REALLY looking forward to being with you and the other members of our family who will be able to come. When I think about the song "Over the river and thru' the woods to Grandmother's house we go" I am SO glad I am going to your home and you all are not coming here.

I have talked to Jeannie several times this week. She has been involved in decorating a Christmas tree for a fund raising auction and she was thrilled that it sold for $600.00. They are all doing fine.

Michael - I thought about you a lot the past couple days as I was in John's home where you lived about a year ago for a few months. Your futon is still there but I believe your Mom will go get it next week. I surely hope you will have some kind of a Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday - I'm betting some Americans who are living there will invite you to their home - I hope so. Let me give you a quote from my friends who are serving in Russia - "Be as obedient as Nephi, as prayerful as Enos. Preach like Alma. Endure like Abinadi. These are attributes of a successful missionary".

Claire invited me to Bob's family birthday dinner last Monday and it was SO NICE. I have thought about the delicious menu and I don't believe I will try to compete - King crab legs, fresh shrimp, caviar crackers, wild rice, artichokes, and a Baskin and Robbins birthday cake. It was so much fun to be in their home - they have bought an electric piano and they have it upstairs along with Brett's drum set and everyone was playing something - NOISY!!!

I went to my DUP meeting on Wednesday and the "pie lady" from Davis County was there. She had made 57 pies that morning - she is in great demand for Thanksgiving and she keeps them in her freezer. She told me exactly how to make her chicken pot pie so I made one for John and took it on Thursday - it wasn't even good!!! I need more practice.

My Home Teachers came on Thursday night. I had brought the drawers from that big metal filing cabinet home - John had put them in my car for me. When I tried to take them out I couldn't lift them so they took them out for me. They are very nice men and would do anything I asked them to do to help me. John is going to bring the cabinet when he gets home.

I went to Logan for the Utah State football game on Saturday with Margaret and other condo friends. It was bitter cold but I just loved being there. Margaret got hot chocolate for all of us and it tasted SO good - she is a real fireball. We stopped at Maddox for dinner after the game and their food is "out of this world". I had so many clothes on I could hardly move and the only thing that got cold was my feet. Utah State should have won but they lost by one field goal.

The photographer who took our family picture called me today to say he had completed it and would wait for my final okay before he made the final print. Could you access it? This is his web site: BLPhoto.com I didn't have problems getting it so if you do let me know and maybe I can help you. The picture is GREAT.