May 21, 2001 Farmington, Utah

I had such a WONDERFUL time yesterday and I AM SO PROUD OF MY FAMILY. Bob. Claire, Laura, Katie, Brett, Rick, Jeannie, Ricky, Mary Ann, Sarah and I all met at the Woolley's church at 2:30 for Russell's missionary farewell and it was absolutely perfect. I was impressed that Jessie had flown in from Boston so she could be there too and she and Lee Anna played a beautiful violin duet with Susanna accompanying them on the piano - very, very lovely. Jimmy was the first speaker and I hope they recorded everything because it was SO special!!! Annie and Ron gave perfect talks - Ron talked about the many airline flights he takes and then made analogies that were so meaningful; airplane cushions that could be used for flotation devices in case of a crash in the ocean and how important it would be for Russell to use prayer as his flotation device on his mission, and then the oxygen mask that should first be used on adults so they could help others and how important it was for Russell to use the things he had learned throughout his life so he could help others and then he used an experience Russell had in sports but I didn't understand that well enough to write about it - Ha!!! Annie's talk was SO special as she talked about the friends Russell had had in his church activities and how ten of them were with only three girls through most of their church classes and the mothers were called to teach them so she felt responsible and proud of their achievements. I was also proud of Steve who gave the opening prayer. A GREAT FAMILY. Russell and his friend, Todd Freestone shared the meeting - Todd is going to India. The Freestone's talk were great too!!! We all went to the Woolley's home for dinner and as usual that was EXCELLENT. Annie had marinated London Broil steaks and then Steve cooked them they also had such special parsleyed and parmesan cheese new little potatoes and Jeannie had brought delicious dips with chips, Claire had brought a fabulous green salad with good dressings and my strawberry trifle was good too. I REALLY liked the Crystal Light drink instead of the carbonated drinks we usually have. WE REALLY MISSED JOHN AND THE ROY MELLORS!!!

Jeannie and Rick had just come home Saturday night late from being with Barji and Boyd in Oklahoma. Jeannie says they are doing GREAT and she loves their apartment and everything they are involved in in Oklahoma. I want to visit with her more about all that. Jessie is loving Boston and her friends there - she says she walks through Harvard everyday before taking the subway to wherever she goes. I was also very impressed with Lee Anna who had had an emergency appendectomy just one week ago and was there to play her violin and participate in everything - WAY TO GO LEE ANNA!!! Ron's sister, Sue and her husband Calvin Grundahl were there with their newly married daughter and her husband and also one of their sons and it was SO good to be with them.

John - Thank you for your messages last week - I appreciated them SO much and I'm SO glad you are doing good. WE MISS YOU!!! I stopped by your home last night on the way coming back to Farmington and your front yard looks good but I hope your gardeners are not costing you a lot because the backyard doesn't look too much different - they have taken out the tree that had died though. I would be happy to go there and help if you would like for me to. You have 29 messages on your phone but I believe most of them are from people calling about your home because they don't leave messages - you did have one from Greg Madsen though.

Patrice - Thank you too for your messages. I AM SO GLAD YOU WERE KIND TO THE MISSIONARIES!!! One of my favorite quotes that I have received on the internet is "It is far more important to be kind than to be right". I could tell that Annie didn't quite agree with me when I said that yesterday so I guess you have to be as old as I am and AS WISE - Ha!!! I will LOVE having Emily come to Utah and I hope she and Katie, and Sarah and any of her other cousins will want to spend time with me in my condo!!!

I am going to try to write my letter before going to another funeral this morning!!! I have to smile at the activities I had last week - a funeral, a wedding, a friend reunion and a missionary farewell - that's touching all bases - Ha!!! One of my best friends in high school lost her husband last weekend - do you remember hearing me talk about Helen Jane Harding Lemon? She lived in Willard where all the fruit and vegetable orchards and "stands" are during the summer and she married Roy Lemon. He had a heart attack and they thought he was going to be okay with limited activity but he died suddenly. Ellen Mae and I went to his viewing on Monday evening and then again to this funeral on Tuesday along with many of our high school friends. I grew up with some wonderful people who have remained loyal all these years and it was good to be with them. Another friend who lived in St. George, Lorraine Richardson Kocherhans, lost her husband and his funeral is this morning in Bountiful - they were not real close friends but we will go and give Lorraine our support. I also had a letter from one of the young men who served with us in Montana telling me about the death of Loren Dunn who was our Area President from the General Authorities while we were on our Mission - I'm sure that news is in our papers but I haven't had time to read the paper for many days. I heard one time that if a person lived to be 80 years old then they were quite likely to live to be 90 - I'm not sure how I feel about that - Ha!!! Brother Dunn was 70 and my other friends were 76.

On Wednesday last week we had our closing social for DUP and it was a potluck luncheon - very, very nice. It was held at a home just above where Jeannie and Rick lived before they moved to Sommerset and it brought back LOTS of memories. That home is now vacant because the couple who lived there have divorced and it is up for sale - I loved that home!!! It's funny because the wife of the couple who have divorced is the daughter of my neighbors here in the condos. The DUP members are such nice women - most of them in their late 70's or early 80's and they are VERY devoted to their pioneer ancestors - I learn a lot by being with them.

Thursday I picked up Chris Jordin at the airport about 6 o'clock and then I had invited Linda Smithers, Claire and my neighbor Margaret to come have a salad dinner (I can't really call it dinner since it was just a chicken salad). Claire had a church meeting so she couldn't come and poor Linda took the wrong exit and ended up having to go to Centerville to get back to Farmington so she was late - I could tell Chris was starving so we ate with Margaret before she got there. Anyway, it was a funny but fun evening. Friday I had hoped to go to my neighbor's wedding but I just couldn't work it in - Chris had come clear from Little Rock and I didn't feel right about saying, "Oh, I have plans for today" so Chris and I went to Salt Lake and spent the day. She wanted to see the new church movie, "The Testaments, one Shepherd one Fold" and do some shopping.

We got hungry so we went to the food court and had Oriental food which was dumb because we had made arrangements to meet Linda and Barbara Sondrup who had come in from Atlanta for dinner. Barbara, Chris and Barbara's daughter Angie who lives in Salt Lake and I met at Linda's condominium and had chips and dips and that was special because she had invited her friend, Margaret, to join with us and she was just delightful. THEN we all went to the "Market Street Grill" for dinner and we REALLY had a good time and also good food but I was ABSOLUTELY STUFFED. They don't take reservations and it was packed when we got there so we went into a little place to visit and we didn't hear when they called our names so they gave our table to someone else - WOW, you don't do that to Linda Smithers and she made a fuss. They ended up giving us a crab appetizer and many apologies and we had special service. We laughed and visited until we were all just about sick and didn't leave the restaurant until about 10:30 so Chris and I didn't get home until about midnight. I had to go to the temple the next morning but Chris slept in - I tried to get her to go with me but she said she didn't have anything to wear and even though we had spent three hours shopping for her a dress she still wouldn't go. I went to the marriage waiting room when I could get away from my assignments and visited with Dianne and Garry Power and Barbara Sondrup who were there for Lauren Munk's wedding and that was WONDERFUL. When I got home from the temple I went to visit with Ellen Mae and Mel for a few minutes - it was Ellen Mae's birthday. Mel is recuperating from his third hip replacement and is doing great. They are sweet friends.

THEN Chris and I went to Salt Lake to attend a wedding luncheon for another Little Rock friend's daughter and it was very, very nice. Our friend, Viola Munk had a friend help her and they did all the food and the flowers which were spectacular - they live in Oregon and they had brought all the food from there in an old van they own. It was held at gorgeous church gardens where the bride and groom met - that church is just for single adults and I have never seen one that has such beautiful gardens. It was held at 2 p.m. and then the Munks had to hurry to get ready for the reception that was held at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in the Nauvoo Room. Viola has worked for a florist company and she did a fantastic job with the flowers - very large blue Hydrangeas in potted pots. They used them at the luncheon and then transported them to the reception. She had also made five wedding cakes and decorated them with fresh flowers. She is such a darling woman - she couldn't find the dress she had brought to wear to the reception so she just wore the same one she had worn for the luncheon. They have two little granddaughters who were dressed "to the nines" and Viola couldn't do anything without carrying them all around - they live in Arizona and don't see her often and wanted her full attention. I don't know how many of you remember Tony and Viola Munk in Little Rock - they were such special, special friends and had two sons born there - Brandon and Ruston. They also have two daughters who were born before they moved to Arkansas. Brandon had just come home from his mission four years ago and was on his way to Vernal to see his girl friend after a Thanksgiving dinner with his family in Salt Lake and had a head-on car collision that took his life.

Barbara Sondrup had invited us to go to her condo for a "sleepover" so we left the reception about 9 p.m. and drove to Orem. That was SO MUCH FUN. Dianne, Chris, Barbara and I stayed up until after midnight and I was a zombie - we ate veggies and dip and laughed and laughed. Barbara had bought her daughter's condo when they moved to Denver and then she redid it and it is lovely. Linda Smithers and Viola came about 9 the next morning, then Barbara's mother, Helena who is 89 came and they treated us to breakfast at the Village Inn. They all helped me and we made some trifles to take for Annie's "Farewell Dinner" for Russell.