August 5, 2001 Farmington, Utah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LAURA ON THURSDAY - AUGUST 9TH!!! You will be 18 years old and headed for college - I can't believe it but I'm surely proud of you and I hope you have a WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY. I believe Laura has already celebrated!!! Laura and her Dad went on a backpacking trip last week and I don't know of very many 18 year old beautiful girls who would do that and Bob told me she was such a good sport and fun to be with. It was so fun to have him come over and tell me all about how they would be wide awake about 3 o'clock each morning and on their hiking trail by 6 a.m. - WOW!!! I hope I have it right that they backpacked about 38 miles and he said it was beautiful country. I always worry about their food and it wasn't bacon, eggs and hashbrowns for breakfasts - he said they had packages of grape nuts with powdered milk mixed in so they just had to add water. He said they had rama noodles for lunches and fruit roll ups. I can't remember what he told me they had for their dinners but I'm sure they didn't have steak. Everything I suggested he said, "Mom, that would have been too heavy to pack" - they were very careful to pack light things. I also worry about wild animals but Bob doesn't worry so consequently they got along just fine. I'm glad they are home safe and sound and I hope they will stay that way for a long time. They left out of Littleton, Colorado and Bob said he had it all marked on a map to leave with Claire.

RUSSELL will be leaving to go to Madagascar on Tuesday. I know he is very anxious to be on his way to work at the things he has been preparing for in the MTC. I will go to say goodbye but I am only going to stay about 5 minutes and I hope he will say something in Malagasy for me - Ha!!! This will be a stressful but very happy time for the family - we're proud of you Russell. I am anxious to see Jessie too and I believe she comes home from Boston tomorrow so she will be here to say goodbye.

I'm anxious to hear more about Michael's new area and also his new Mission President. I have worried about the volcano in Sicily but I'm sure it won't have any affect on Michael. I receive missionary letters from my friends who are in Russia and I always think of my grandsons who are serving in such exotic places and learning about new cultures and I am reminded about how much the church has grown during my lifetime - it's exciting!!!

I am thinking that Roy and Patrice and their family have left Little Rock and are enjoying their journey towards Utah. They plan to be here on Friday night, the 10th and I'm SO anxious to have them here. I had hoped our weather would be cooler but the forecast is for more of the same HOT weather - it is supposed to get into the 60's at night though and that always helps. Someone told me that a Timpanogos Mountain hiking trip is being considered while they are here - that sounds fun for those of you who are in good condition and I will be happy to care for the little ones who don't want to go!!!

John - I haven't heard from you for awhile and I'm wondering if you are traveling - I hope you're not in Israel!!! I have sent you LOTS of pictures so maybe I have loaded up your computer - please delete any you don't think are worthwhile. I think it will be a good idea for some of you to go through some of my pictures while you are here and select the ones you feel should be included on the website. I found one of Rick and Jeans' wedding that I really liked because it included pictures of Rick's parents, Grandmother and Grandfather Forrest and also Granny Mellor. I will keep looking for one like that of the weddings of the rest of you.

YOU ARE ALL INVITED TO MY CONDO FOR DINNER NEXT SUNDAY - PROBABLY ABOUT 7 P.M. I want to go over my finances while you are here. I was SO thrilled to meet with the attorney working with the Thomas family on trying to get the Lehi property boundary lines agreed upon. Ron decided to go directly to him instead of working with the "dimwits" at the title company and it was the perfect decision. The attorney, Paul Newton, is a very nice man as well as being smart. We had a meeting set up for Thursday at 10 a.m and Don & Cheryl brought their son, Bert with them. I got lost but it really wasn't my fault - Cheryl gave me the wrong directions. I was an hour late but I kept calling the attorney's office and couldn't get through so he had lots of messages verifying that I was trying to get there. The meeting was great but Cheryl wanted some things changed so he is going to have to re-type it and then we will sign it on Tuesday. He had a copy of the proposed residential plan for the property just North and West of our property and it is going to increase the value of our property a lot, I think. It would be wonderful if we could develop our parcel but I guess that is out of the question. I believe it will be excellent commercial property of some kind. THANK YOU, THANK YOU RON FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!!

I was happily surprised this afternoon to have Mary Ann come and make a "dumb" sandwich and then eat with me. I had a special recipe for a "Pita" bread sandwich that I planned to make for Mary Ann, Ricky and Sarah because Rick and Jean are out of town. Mary Ann came over before I had time to make them so she made her own and it had mustard, lettuce and tomatoes in it and that's all!!! My recipe called for ground beef and onions mixed with Italian vegetables and other things but she says she isn't eating any meat now. Ricky was invited to his friend's home for dinner and Sarah is still in St. George so my plans went down the drain - Ha!!! Barji and Boyd came over but they wouldn't eat because they were going to his family's home for dinner. They are doing SO good - they just came home from Michigan where Boyd played in a golf tournament. He thinks his golf game is slowly coming back to the way he wants it.

I have had such a fun week. I went to Bear Lake with some friends on Wednesday - we left about 8:30 a.m. and got home about 6:30 p.m. One of my friends' sons owns a beautiful home there with a panoramic view of the lake and it was a beautiful day. I made that "walking taco" appetizer with chips and my friend made a delicious pasta salad served with rolls. THEN she made raspberry ice cream that was "to die for". I went to another beautiful cabin in Parley's Canyon on Friday night with some of my High School friends and that is always such a fun, fun time - Emma Lou Thayne is an author and she has this place where she "hides out" to write. Her husband, Mel, cooked fabulous steaks and then each one of us brought something - they assigned me rolls and that was easy. You just wouldn't believe their place - you have to know it is there in order to find it - so secluded and she says her grandchildren dearly love to spend their Summers there.

Malcolm Jeppsen is the St. George Temple President and he had an interesting story to tell. At the visitor's center in St. George there is a statue of Christ in front of a big glass window. Friday morning a deranged man went there naked and broke the glass and went into the building and embraced the Christus. It was early so there wasn't anyone there but of course the security alarms all went off and Malcolm said by the time he got there the place was covered in blood. He wasn't sure the man was going to live and I haven't heard since then. Strange things are happening!!!