October 14, 2001 Farmington, Utah

Bob, Claire, Brett and Katie just left - it is SO fun to have them drop in and visit!!! They want Brett to have a lot of experience in night driving and that is very wise - he is doing good and is a serious guy at the wheel!!! It's funny to see how my grandchildren can be so mature when they need to be - Ha!!! Katie is super busy cheerleading for the basketball games at her school. Brett is getting ready for a State band competition on Tuesday night. Claire has been busy painting their garage door and their back door and now she has lost her voice. She brought some pineapple upside down cake that I will have for breakfast - I haven't made that for a long, long time and I love it!!!

Sarah brought my "meals on wheels" today and Jeannie I want to know your recipe for dressing - it was SO good with the chicken and gravy!!! Everything was good and I appreciate it very much but I also know you have plenty to feed at your home. Sarah stayed with me while I ate and it was fun to hear about her school activities - she told me that she "hangs out" with a young man whose grandmother worked with me at ZCMI. This young man is also a good friend of Danny Summerhays and they compete in golf - what a GREAT group of young people to "hang out with"!!!

Ellen Mae and Mel came over this afternoon also and it was fun to visit with them - they have been gone for about three weeks. They went to Colorado Springs for Mel's Marine reunion and then to New York to visit with their son Robert. They went to the show "42nd Street" in New York and said it was WONDERFUL so John you should go see it. My home teachers came over this afternoon also - it has been a fun day!!!

I keep thinking about Russell telling his family that he had his camera stolen. When I had my things stolen in Thailand it was my first experience of realizing there are actually people in the world who are thieves and it was hard to comprehend. I guess we all have to have these experiences and the trick in not letting it get to you is to know they are the ones who will lose - not you!!! Do they have good cameras in Madagascar? I hope you will be able to get another one soon because you will want to take a lot of pictures on your mission. Claire sent me one from America and I am still using it and just love it but I guess you can't get mail where you are. Michael - you haven't had anything stolen yet, have you? I keep thinking of Michael having to get some food storage - having a lot of food could surely complicate transfers couldn't it?

These are truly stressful times and it is difficult to write a letter without commenting on all the scary things going on. I am not one bit frightened but I surely hope all my family members will be extra careful in the things you do. I am sorry for the leaders of our country who are constantly on the "hot seat" and are asked so many questions for which there are no answers. We hear so much about the anthrax threat and the health leaders are doing everything they can to get prepared in case of problems but they don't have all the answers. Every individual in the country needs to be responsible for his own safety - I can't think of anyone in my family who would open a letter that looked suspicious!!!

I had a busy week last week. Cheryl and her daughter Pam and her granddaughter Brittany and her daughter-in-law Shannon went to Las Vegas for a little vacation. Don and Cheryls' son, Clint, took his two little boys who are 5 and 11 months to take care of Don while they were gone. I wanted to help so Cheryl suggested that I help with some of their meals - I took their dinners on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and it was fun. Don is really doing well I think - he has to use a walker to walk but gets around just fine. Clint was SO good to do everything and his two little boys are adorable. When I went on Wednesday I found their home in spic and span condition - Clint had cleaned everything - I couldn't believe it!!! The "girls" got home early on Wednesday afternoon and I know Clint was VERY happy to have his wife home. He said to me one day "You know, Don isn't any trouble but these two little ones are driving me crazy" - Ha!!!

When I got home on Wednesday night I had a phone call from Dianne Power telling me they would like to come see me on Thursday night. They were in Provo with their two daughters who are going to BYU. I invited them for dinner and then I did something I have never done before - I ORDERED TAKEOUT!!! Bob and Claire have found a very good Thai restaurant in Roy which is about 10 miles from Farmington so I called them and ordered dinner for four people that was not spicy because Dianne can't eat anything spicy. The food was delicious and we just enjoyed visiting and not cooking - I could get used to that very easily. Garry wanted to know all about you Roy and said to tell you hello. When I went outside to tell them goodbye I asked what kind of car they were driving because I knew Roy would be interested. Garry drives s BMW but they came to Utah in Dianne's Cadillac. They told me their two daughters each have a big truck that they drive around Provo in - I think that is SO funny but they said that is what all the California young people drive.

Ann and Jean - do you remember Joan Corbitt from our Phoenix days? Bob said he remembered the names but didn't know them so I'm sure Roy won't remember them either and John wasn't even born when we lived in Phoenix. Joan's husband, Don, died about 6 years ago and she remarried a man whose last name was Erickson and they moved to Gilbert, Arizona. A new couple has just moved into the Oakridge Village Condos and I visited with them this morning and found out they also live in Gilbert. I asked if they knew a Joan whose last name used to be Corbitt and come to find out the new woman in the condos is Joan's Visiting Teaching Companion. She told me that Joan's new husband died about two months ago of a heart attack - he had been on his treadmill and collapsed and died. Isn't that sad? Joan had written in her Christmas card last year that her son had been killed in an airplane accident and she appreciated her husband (Erickson) so much because of all his help during this time. I will write to her soon.

I LOVE our Fall weather - it is just right, not too cold and not too hot and I wish it could be like this all year long. We would have so many people move to Utah if it were that way that we couldn't move. I'll be glad when John gets home and communicates with me - I want to hear all about their trip.