Weekly Report March 19, 2001
Dearest Family,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EMILY TOMORROW!!! HAPPY
BELATED BIRTHDAY TO STEVE ON SATURDAY!!! I didn't have Steve's birthday on
my calendar but I remembered that it was on a holiday (St. Patrick's Day) and
when I asked Annie when it was, it was too late to send a card in time (poor
sentence)!!!
I can't believe that the little determined girl I
was with in Little Rock about ten years ago is now a TEENAGER!!! My
favorite memory of Emily is when I was there to take care of her and we started
out from their home to get a video and I thought it was in one direction but she
was VERY sure it was in the other direction. She absolutely would not go
with me - she very determinedly dropped my hand and started walking the other
way. I had no choice but to follow her and of course she was right and we
got to the right place. She is showing that same determination in
everything she does and I'm SO proud of her!!! I hope you have a WONDERFUL
birthday Emily!!!
MANY, MANY THANKS TO RON AND ANN. They met
Cheryl and Don and me at the Lehi property yesterday morning and we walked all
over it and Ron compared the boundary lines on the information received from the
Title Company with the actual property boundary as best he could. It is
quite difficult because Aunt Marvel went to court in 1964 to get what is called
a "Quiet Deed" to settle a discrepancy in the boundary lines. She
wanted to settle it so she would get the fence and trees and kinda' "square
it off". Cheryl and Don and I just want it settled and legally
recorded. It is good property and they are developing all around it - I
don't want to ever sell it while I am alive. Ron suggested yesterday that
it would be to our advantage to sell it as a 9.54 acre piece rather than the
divided part between Don and me. I hadn't thought about that but I believe
he is right. I don't believe Don will live very much longer but I hope I
am wrong - he is so very weak and can't walk very far - his Parkinson's disease
has really taken its toll along with his diabetes, heart problems, disc
degeneration, etc. I get so sad when I am with him. Cheryl is an
angel and SO good to him!!! Anyway, I believe Cheryl will want to sell it
soon after he is gone.
We are all going to meet at the Title Company today
at 1 o'clock and I appreciate SO much that Ron will be with us - he understands
all the surveyor's terms and besides that he is someone I can trust to make good
decisions. I don't really think we will be able to sign anything today
because he thinks the legal descriptions of the boundary lines need to be
changed. The people at the Title Company are anxious to get everything
signed so they can move on with getting an estate of an owner next to our
property settled. Cheryl has been VERY involved in this and I admire her
for having the ability to go to the court house, the abstract office, the
surveyors, Aunt Marvel's attorney, Harvard Hinton, etc., etc. Her sons
have been to the property and have measured everything too. I don't have
the ability or desire that she has. I am much more complacent at my age
than she is. - but I don't want to be taken advantage of either.
Bob and Claire are having such a FABULOUS cruise and
I have LOVED their letters and pictures and I know you have too. I was
thrilled to see the pictures of the ruins in Crete - there was no way I could
get Bob to go see the ruins in Thailand. That sweet Laura has been SO good
to keep in touch with me - I worry about them when I can't find them after dark
so she tells me where they are going. They all went to a Fireside at
church last night. I went to their home on Friday and it was full of their
friends and they were having such a good time. I could hear their piano
being played when I drove up and I thought "Oh, I will be able to tell
Claire that Katie has practiced while she has been gone. BUT - it wasn't
Katie, it was one of their friends - Ha!!!" Brett and one of his
friends were downstairs in their family room watching a basketball game on
television and I thought it was live - they laughed because it was some kind of
a television game. I am so out of touch with technology that it would be
difficult for me to help them. Laura had made cookies. I laughed at
Bob's letter where he told Laura to be sure to "feed and water the bird and
feed and water Brett". I am not going to reply to their letters while
they are gone because I am not smart enough to know whether or not it would be a
pain or a help.
John is leaving for Israel today. I talked to
him yesterday and when I asked him if he were excited he said "It's just
more travel Mom"!!! I remember when Lynn used to travel to those
exotic and far away places and he would be excited for weeks in advance. I
get excited about going to Star Valley - Ha!!! John is traveling alone
this time - he was with another RichFX friend the last time he went. I
can't help but worry when he travels like this but there isn't anything I can do
about it. I am SO grateful for the internet and e-mail because he is very
good at keeping me informed about his whereabouts.
Sarah - thank you SO much for inviting me to your
D'Ette "Parent Appreciation Dinner" last Wednesday night. Rick
was in St. George and couldn't go - Jeannie had bought a ticket for him and so I
went instead and I REALLY enjoyed it. Sarah accompanied her group on her
violin as they sang a song and she did such a good job. Their leaders had
interviewed each girl on video and had them express their appreciation to their
parents and they showed that - Sarah seemed so much more mature and beautiful
than most of the others. Could I be prejudiced??? It is fun for me
to go to things like that to meet Sarah's friends and see first hand how much
all the parents love her and also Jean and Rick. Sarah was SO sweet to me
and I could not possibly have looked worse - I had a permanent that afternoon
and my hair was one "frizz ball". My hair is such a pain - I
have to talk the beautician into giving me a tight curl because if I don't it
lasts about two weeks and after that I have to start rolling it up in tiny, tiny
curlers - I have no hair in the back of my head!!!
Roy and Patrice - I have thought about you a lot this
week as there has been news about Brown University. I watch too much news
and I probably shouldn't. It has been fun though to see pictures of the
campus. The African American situation is
difficult to understand and I don't even pretend to know what has gone on at
Brown. I LOVED the people of that race with whom I worked in Little Rock
but I hardly ever see any where I live now.
We have a group called the "empty nesters"
here in our ward and it is for seniors who don't have children in their homes.
I was the only single person who went to it last Monday but it was a
beautiful meeting. The friends who had it in their home had their son and
his wife give the program. Their son was hit by a boat when he was water
skiing about ten years ago and he has struggled all that time to improve his
life - his wife told of their faith and struggles. They didn't think he
would live for many months but he left the hospital after four months and is
doing quite well now - he has a difficult time speaking and is unable to work so
they have written a book that is giving them some income.
I went to a Thai Teacher Mission Reunion on Saturday
in Salt Lake. We all met at the "Bangkok Thai" restaurant -
there were 16 of us. It was SO good to see so many of them that I haven't
seen since we came home from our missions. The food was just WONDERFUL and
made me determined to try to learn how to make it again. My former
companion, Janet Asper, is teaching at the MTC and she told us they are phasing
out the English project in Thailand and the humanitarian part of the church is
taking it into Laos, Cambodia and other Asian countries.
Janet told me that a woman in her ward is from
Madagascar and she is employed by the church to translate the standard works
into that language - it isn't French either. Janet said she is a beautiful
French woman. Annie said she bought a Book of Mormon in that language so
Russell can begin reading it - isn't that GREAT??? Michael - have you been
transferred yet? I will send this letter to your old address but I know
how that works and you will get it eventually. Your Dad says he would like
to retire in Italy - would you like to live there permanently? I am SO
happy to be in America and learn about all the other countries through magazines
and news articles!!!
That's all the news. I LOVE EACH ONE OF YOU SO
VERY, VERY MUCH. PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO AND
IN ALL THE FARAWAY PLACES. Grandma B XXXXXXXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOOOOO