July 4, 2001 Farmington, Utah

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY to each one of you!!! I hope you will fly the flag, go to parades, cook hamburgers, eat potato salad, baked beans and make homemade ice cream - that's what we do on the fourth of July isn't it??? I'm excited because our family will be together at the Weinert's home and the Roy Mellor family will also be represented because Emily will be with us. Brett is going to be marching with his school band and that always makes parades more fun. I hope John will be able to make it - he's coming for the 6th but I'm not sure about the 4th. I have been to many patriotic things already so I AM READY!!! I am SO grateful to live in this wonderful country of ours as I know all of you are too - it just takes living in a foreign country for a little while to realize how fortunate we are.

This will be such a fun week and I was thrilled to receive your message Annie saying we would be able to get together at your home on Friday, the 6th, before we go to Sundance. How is Jimmy going to get home from Idaho where he has been attending EFY (Especially For Youth) if you don't go to get him? My grandchildren are going in so many different directions this Summer that I can't keep up with them. I'm anxious to hear about Jimmy's experience at the new Idaho BYU - they renamed Rick's College and changed the curriculum to exclude many of the sports' programs and I look for it to be a GREAT institution.

I looked out my kitchen window yesterday and saw Jeannie and Ricky golfing on the Oakridge golf course - I'm SO glad to see them doing that. I went out to talk to them and get my food assignment - Jean said she hadn't decided on the menu yet but for me to bring baked beans. SO now I need my food assignment from you Ann. We will need to eat early because we will want to get to Sundance early enough to get good seats, won't we? I LOVE SUNDANCE!!!

It's good to have Mary Ann home and she had an absolutely marvelous time in Europe. I hope she won't mind my writing about her "hives". She got them about three days after she got in Europe and treated them with an ointment that cleared them up for awhile but when she was over this afternoon she told me they had come back. She's going to a dermatologist tomorrow. She thinks she will be able to start work at Mervyns for the rest of the Summer.

Bob and Claire - Thank you SO much for sending the pictures of Michael. He looks just WONDERFUL and it's so special to see him with his arms around his black friends. I can tell what kind of a missionary he is by just looking in his eyes and I'm SO proud of him!!! He looks a little too thin to me though - has he told you how much he weighs? I LOVE hearing about his mission. I know that Annie will be sending some pictures of Russell when he gets into the Mission Field. I think about Russell learning Madagasy and I don't even know if it is a written language - it must be if the Book of Mormon has been translated in that language. Will Russell be able to send pictures from Madagascar? If not, how we will be able to know how he is doing? I can hear all of you saying "By Faith" - Okay!!! That was a big part of our Sunday School lesson today so I already knew the answer.

John - how are you going to survive if New York enforces the "no cell phone use in automobiles"??? New York has been the only state mentioned in the papers that will have that law but I don't believe it will be in effect until the early part of 2002. I have appreciated your little messages this week and I'm looking forward to seeing you this weekend - I hope so much that you will be able to work it out and come.

Barji - thank you for your message yesterday. It will be fun to see you and Boyd on the Fourth. I'm anxious to be with Susanna and Steve too and all my other grandchildren. I'm betting that Jessie won't be here though - Boston will be "rocking" with patriotism so that will be special for her but we will miss her.

I went to Park City with Margaret on Monday for a fun couple days. Steve Young was sponsoring the "Forever Young Golf Classic" there and I have never been in the midst of so many celebrities. Steve and his wife, Barb, (Barbara) were the hosts and they are such a down to earth couple and they had their little baby boy with them. He has lots of Young cousins so he had a lot of attention - he's only about 7 months old. The Forever Young Foundation has just furnished a "young patient's wing" at the Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake that has all the latest technology educational things for the young people to use. I stayed in a condo in Park City that Margaret owns and she rents it out to tourists - I had seen it but I had never stayed in it before and it is really nice - three large bedrooms, four baths, living room and kitchen - there were six of us. We went to the "Olympic Park" on Monday night and that was just spectacular - it is built for skiers to practice their skiing and aerial stunts and I couldn't believe what I saw. They had a demonstration of Olympic skiers and then a program and dinner. Mitt Romney and his wife were there and many other dignitaries - Mitt Romney is much slighter than he looks on television. Roy - do you remember when his Father came to Little Rock and you drove him to the airport after our Stake Conference? Romney is the 2002 Olympic chairman and I think he is doing a great job.

Tuesday was the golf tournament and we served "Stephens' New Summer Drink and their Icey Chocolate Drink" on the 7th hole to all the golfers in the tournament. It was so much fun to meet all the sports people; Danny Ainge, Dale Murphy, Mike Weir, Merlin Olsen, Steve Garvey, Vernon Law, and also the sports newscasters like Ken Norton, Wesley Ruff, Rod Zundel, Dave Fox, etc.

Wednesday we had breakfast in Park City and then drove home. I went to the "Rich Little" program at the Layton Amphitheatre that night and it was very good - I really enjoy live entertainment and he is so talented. We had a death in our ward and I was asked to provide a luncheon for the family on Thursday afternoon. I had already made reservations to take one of the sisters on my visiting teaching route to the film at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and I was to get her at 9 a.m. on Thursday. My friends Patt and Margaret offered to take care of the luncheon so I could go to the Rich Little program. They went to Smiths and got cold cuts and salads. I hope our new Relief Society President doesn't ask me to provide luncheons for all the funerals - we always do the dinner afterwards but this is the first time I have heard of a luncheon the day before.

I had a letter from Chris Jordin telling me that Dick Cobb will be released as Stake President in Little Rock. They had applied for a mission and have been called to the Family History Genealogy Mission in Salt Lake. It will be fun to see them occasionally and maybe an incentive to do more genealogy. I wonder if they will move from Little Rock to Utah.

Bob and Claire just came over for a visit. I always love it when my family comes to visit but I always end up doing all the talking - I think that is what happens to people when they get old and live alone. They are doing good and keeping busy!!! Claire, Katie and I are going to pick up Emily at the airport in the morning and we are looking forward to having her with us - it was fun to talk to her today. I'm sorry I missed your call Roy - my church is from 12:30 to 3:30. Today was a funny day. I sleep down stairs during the Summer because it is SO cool and I always have a little light on in the living room down there. When I awakened it was pitch black and so quiet I could have slept my life away but I got up and came upstairs to find my power was off. It was almost 8 o'clock and the power had been off for over an hour and it stayed off until about noon. They said a power line had been cut during some construction close by. I was already to walk to church but I didn't have to - I couldn't get my car out of the garage because of the electric garage door. It's funny how we get used to having everything go as we expect and then something like that happens and it throws us!!!