January 22, 2001 Farmington, Utah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CLAIRE ON FRIDAY!!! I believe you are "thirty something" and I hope you have a WONDERFUL day - I'm sure you will with your family planning things for you. It was fun to talk to the Bob Mellors last night - Laura and Katie were making divinity and Bob said it was delicious. I can't think of any more fun than having two young women in the kitchen with enthusiasm for cooking and I'm sure they will come up with something special for Claire birthday dinner.

I was writing this letter a few minutes ago and the power went off - if Michael were here I would call him to see if he could retrieve it for me. He did that one time when I was in the apartment in Layton and I was SO impressed - he and his friend came over and sat on the bed and helped me - my computer was in the bedroom. I don't know why my power goes off but it does quite often so I am going to hurry and finish this letter before I lose it again. It was funny - I had television on and they were broadcasting about the "blackouts" in California because of the power shortage there. I hate it when it happens because I have to go around my house and "reset" all my clocks and that is insignificant compared to the problems in California.

ANNIE - thank you for your e-mail this morning. Ann and Ron had been in New York from Wednesday through Friday night and they were spending some time with John. She said they couldn't see John's apartment because it was too far away from where they were but they visited him in his office and she said "he seems to be enjoying living in the city". I just can't imagine the change in his life but he keeps telling me "Mom, the world is so small" - it seems mighty big to me. He has been traveling a lot and in fact, was going to leave for Atlanta Saturday morning. Annie said that John was going to move into a different apartment soon - I believe he has done his share of moving for a lifetime!!! I hope you enjoyed "The Lion King". I watched the weather news and it sounded like New York had a lot of snow - it could have been in a different part of the state than where you were though. I'm glad Lee Anna and Jim got along okay - I remember when I could help with "baby sitting" but not any more. I know Susanna and Steve were happy to be with them some.

JOHN - thank you for your phone call on Wednesday from Atlanta. I'm surprised it was cold there - I'm sure not as cold as it has been here. I keep thinking of your haircut and your tooth problem - I hope both of those have been resolved by now. There is just nothing that gives a person more problems than moving - things we take for granted are all of a sudden monumental and when you add a new job to all that it is even harder and as a result there are many important details that are forgotten. YOU'LL MAKE IT!!!

RICKY - I was SO proud of you yesterday as you spoke in the Canyon View sacrament meeting in Farmington and I'm so glad I was able to hear you. It surprises me that you don't ever get nervous - at least it doesn't show if you do. I really enjoyed the meeting and I think it is great that you would make the trip from Logan so you could keep your commitment. It was fun to be with Jeannie and Rick and also to see Boyd's parents and Chuck and Frankie Coulter. That is a special ward. I don't know how many of you remember the Coulters from our time in Little Rock but we were very close to them as they made the decision to sell their beautiful home there to move to Utah. They live just above Lagoon and have never regretted their move. Andy was a good friend to John and he and his wife are now living with them and she is expecting a baby.

They have announced in our prayer meetings in the temple for the past month that there would be a devotional for all temple workers in the Bountiful temple - they emphasized that it was just for temple workers and adult members with whom they lived. It was held last night in the Regional Center in Bountiful and President Hinckley was the speaker. That is a huge building but by the time Jeannie and I got there it was completely full with no vacant seats. Pres. Hinckley was so cute - he said, "It looks like the temple workers came with all their great grandchildren". Jeannie and I stood where we could see really good and we didn't mind but I felt bad for the older workers who came with canes and walkers who had to stand. One of the ushers finally asked a young single man to give up his seat so a handicapped man could sit down.

ROY AND PATRICE - you are still having bad weather aren't you? You will have a beautiful and much welcome Spring when it comes. I love to look at my enlarged family picture and every time I look at it I have to smile as I see the expression on Jesse's face as he stands so erect in front of the group. I have quite a bit of company in my home and they are drawn to that picture and since they see my Utah family occasionally I must explain to them about my Little Rock family - that beautiful Emily in front and Timothy and Jesse close by. I'm SO proud of my family!!!

I watched the inauguration procedures on Saturday after I came home from the temple. The weather couldn't have been worse in Washington D. C. but the parade went on. I wanted to see and hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as they went by the podium where the Bushes and Cheneys were but somehow I missed it. I thought maybe they had decided to not be in the parade but yesterday's newspaper pictures showed them on that HUGE float so I guess they were in it. I told someone that I was interested in seeing what Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Cheney wore to everything - I guess I said the wrong thing because this person said, "I'm more interested in what this new Presidency is going to do not what they are going to wear" - Ha!!! I liked some of the clothes but not all of them.

I went to my D.U.P. meeting on Wednesday and it was nice. I believe there was only one woman who wasn't there and she was in Hawaii - that's quite unusual for this group. We're all older women - most older than I am - and most of the time someone is sick and can't come. That is such a sweet group of women and they study the pioneer women who came to Utah in the 1800s and the things they had to cope with are unbelievable.

MICHAEL - I hope you have warm water by now. Your Mom said you were having to shower in cold water because of water problems in the area where you live. My friends in Russia have a lot of problems with their water too - they write that it is SO difficult to get repair people who know what they are doing. I'm SO glad you are playing soccer - missionaries need to have a lot of fun in their lives and soccer is such good exercise.