May 19, 2002 Farmington, Utah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SARAH ON TUESDAY!!! I simply cannot believe Sarah will be 17 years old - and a beautiful 17 year old. I took pictures of her with her D'Ette group and she is SO pretty and happy with LOTS of GREAT friends and activities - a perfect situation for a young woman in High School. I hope you have a WONDERFUL birthday!!!

I keep thinking of Susanna - I had a letter from Annie telling me that she had received her "capstone schedule" (what ever that stands for) and she must work from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. three times a week without pay - WHAT A RIPOFF!!! The good thing is that she will be working at the Orem Community Hospital and it is close to their home so she will be able to spend lots of time there. This will last until about a week or so after her baby is born BUT she can do it!!! I believe she will get paid for a few days she works during the months and if I understood her right she will be working in the maternity section of the hospital so she will be REALLY informed as to what to expect. Steve is such a great support for her.

I also think of Laura M. who is embarking on an entirely new experience. She is living in an apartment with total strangers and starting a new Semester at Utah State - that takes a lot of courage. I'm still laughing about her Mother's e-mail telling me she had left all her nice clean and ironed clothes at home when she packed to go back to Logan last weekend - she had LOTS of things on her mind.

Annie - thank you SO much for ordering my beautiful "POT" of flowers and Rick - thank you SO much for going to Provo to pick it up. It adds so much to my front yard. I had some beautiful tulips for a little while but now they are gone and I have beautiful pansies but they will soon be gone and the pot is SO colorful that I LOVE it. Now if I can just keep it growing and pretty - I'm not too good at that.

I think about Roy and Patrice and their plans for the Summer. I always worry when I think about Patrice having to make some arrangements for Timothy and Jesse while she is at work and I wish she would send them to me - Emily is old enough to take care of herself but I would love her too. Patrice can pretty well arrange her work schedule to fit her family's schedule and the children have had some excellent care in the past. They have LOTS of church activities as well as art classes, etc., etc.

John, Laura and Bren - I'm SO anxious to hear that you are home safe and sound and I want to hear all about your trip and see some pictures. I know you have had a GREAT time!!! I'm glad they didn't have any terrorism attacks in Europe this past week.

Margaret is planning her big annual golf tournament for tomorrow and she has invited me to go to the Country Club for lunch. I feel like a square peg in a round hole because I don't have a husband and I don't play golf so I probably won't go. She thinks maybe Rulon Gardner will come and that would be special She was in Star Valley most of last week making arrangements to auction off some fishing poles, etc., made by a friend of Rulon's who is dying of cancer. Margaret has turned most of the arrangements over to her sons and she told me they expect 28 teams (?) of 4 to compete so it should be fun to watch from my backyard. The proceeds go to Utah State and she has done this every year since her husband died. I would like to go to the Country Club just for lunch - Ha!!! Rick took Jeannie and me there for dinner last week and their food is delicious.

Claire - I was SO happy to receive your e-mail letter and pictures this afternoon. I usually hear from Claire at least twice a week but I didn't hear from her this week at all. I worried that something might be wrong at their home so I finally called yesterday afternoon and asked Brett if his Mother had crashed her computer. He told me that she had but they had it fixed. Brett sounded so quiet on the phone so I asked him if I had awakened him and he said, "Grandma, it's 5 o'clock"!!! I still think I woke him up - Ha!!! Claire has been to Star Valley with her quilting group this past week and she sent some pictures of their trip. She stayed at the home of one of her friends and it sounds like the same kind of home that Margaret has - hardly a mountain cabin!!!! Star Valley is really a very beautiful place and growing fast!!! Margaret pays $10,000 a year just for insurance and it's too bad she can't spend more time there. Her family won't let her go alone and they can't always go with her. I have missed two wonderful trips with her this past month due to D.U.P. and missionary things - I'm about ready to drop out of everything.

This has been a super busy week for me. I had a luncheon on Monday for Helen, Janet and Virginia and it was really fun. I made our favorite salad and they loved it. I didn't know the name of it until they reminded me that it is "som thom". It is made with green papaya in Thailand but it is just as good made with carrots. I only used 3 hot chili peppers but it was almost too hot - when they made it in Bangkok for us they used about 5 or 6. I wanted them to come at noon so they could avoid the traffic going home but as it was they stayed until almost 4 o clock - we had a lot to catch up with. Helen loved her mission in Mexico and she is going to put in for another one but maybe just for 6 months. Janet doesn't want to go on another one since she returned from Turkey. Virginia is teaching a Somalia family of 8. I am ready to stay home until I die and just work in the temple.

We had our D.U.P closing social on Wednesday and it was just WONDERFUL. We had a potluck luncheon at the home of one of our members and she and her husband live on about 15 acres of absolutely gorgeous property. The weather was just beautiful and the food was good - I always worry about potluck!!!

I went to the annual Humanitarian Missionary Reunion on Friday night and it too was just WONDERFUL. It is always SO special to see friends with whom I served in Thailand. They come from all countries but I believe Thailand is best represented - we all just love each other. They served delicious food and LOTS of it - I'm guessing there were about 300 former missionaries there. It was held at the Humanitarian Center and it is a thrill to go to that place and see all the things being readied and packaged to be sent to third world countries to help them with their poverty. I miss my encyclopedias and other books that went to D.I. when I moved from Orem but when I see the good they do in other countries I don't miss them at all.

I fixed dinner for a family with a new baby and went to the temple yesterday. This afternoon, after church, I had to go back to the temple for a training session and I just came home. I'm anxious to just relax and read the paper.

I think about Russell and Michael all the time and I know they are doing good. Annie told me that Russell left many of his new clothes in Madagascar hoping to go back. They had a REALLY good phone visit with him on Mother's Day but it was midnight here and that must have been hard. I checked all the countries being served by Humanitarian Missionaries and Italy and Madagascar are not on the list. The Bob Mellors talked to Michael about 9 or 10 in the morning and they said he was "just the same Michael" and that made them happy - Bob told me that Michael is a little concerned about starting college as soon as he gets back and I can surely understand that but he will do just GREAT!!!

I believe Boyd and Barji will be home this week and it will be good to see Boyd - I have seen Barji recently but not Boyd. Mary Ann keeps busy working at Mervyn's and running her usual 10 miles a day - she is surely in good shape, and a beauty. I believe Jessie is working for her Dad and I know she is a big help to him - a real attraction for his office. Lee Anna is getting ready to graduate from Timpview and Jimmy is getting ready to start football practice. Katie is in her usual social whirl and having LOTS of fun and Ricky is working hard at his school teaching and tutoring elementary grade school students. Do I have everyone's activities right????