May 26, 2002 Farmington, Utah

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO EACH ONE OF YOU!!! I know the Roy Mellors and John won't be visiting cemeteries but I believe they will have the day off from work and I hope you will all have a relaxing fun day. Wow - I'm late getting to the computer tonight. I went outside to turn the water off my flower garden and some neighbors came over to visit and an hour later I'm getting back to writing my letter.

Today has been such a special "unexpected" happy day for me. I had planned to go to Lehi to decorate graves this morning right after Sacrament Meeting and when Bob dropped by to visit for a few minutes last night he said he would like to go with me but he couldn't leave until after his meetings at 4 o'clock. That was GREAT for me!!! I am such a slow learner though - Claire and Katie have been at Lake Mead with Claire's brother and his family doing some water skiing but since Bob talked to her last night on the phone I thought she was home. Come to find out - Bob and Brett have been "batching" it for a few days and Bob even fixed a picnic lunch for all of us to take to Lehi today. I should surely have fixed dinner for them today and also the picnic lunch but I didn't know Claire wasn't coming home until tonight. OH WELL!!! Bob had told me that Brett was fixing a pasta and Ragu dinner but I didn't realize he wasn't having any help. Laura came home from Logan in time to go with us too and that was SO special.

We first went to our farms in Lehi and Brett shoveled some gravel to anchor the "missionary flag" in by Daddy's headstone and also to anchor the artificial floral arrangements I had made to put on his grave and also Aunt Marvel and Uncle Iras' and my Rhodes family grandparents graves (bad sentence). The farms look good - Bob said the well on the 26 acres has been turned off and the other well didn't look like it was running. Water may be a problem in Lehi this Summer. The graves looked REALLY nice - I have an idea that Ann and her family have been there to put some flowers on them. I will always remember how Jessie used to arrange flowers from their garden for Memorial Day. I had some Iris blooming but my peonies are late. We went to the Lehi Park to have a picnic and that was fun - I couldn't get Laura and Brett to go down the slides though. Jeannie called while we were at the park and they were on their way to Lehi - I wish our family could have been together but it didn't work out that way.

David and Polly Taylor and their two little boys came by to see me on Saturday and David really wanted to take the missionary flag to put on Daddy's grave but it was late by the time I got home to see them. They had come while I was in Brigham City and then came back after I got home and their little boys were very tired. I think it is SO special the way David has cared for that flag for the last ten years and it is such an honor for me to put it on the gravesite. Their little boys, Christopher and Griffin, are just adorable and they are a very happy family.

I had such a fun time last Monday night. The Summerhays invited me to a family baby shower they were giving for Barji and Boyd. They served a delicious chicken bar-b-cue dinner and then we played fun games. I was SO impressed with all the little children there - I believe they had about a dozen sitting at the table at the same time and they looked like they were all the same age. They were SO good. We went into their family room to play games and they have a lot of toys and "dress ups" for the children and it was just a fun, fun time. Boyd has such a WONDERFUL family and they included two of his cousins who are about his age. Boyd's grandparents on his Mother's side were also there and they are lovely people. His sisters do clever things at parties.

Many of you may remember my High School friend, Helen Jane Lemon. She lost her husband last year quite suddenly with a heart attack. She teaches piano lessons but her students had last week off so she called to see if she could come visit on Friday. We had a WONDERFUL day. We went to the "Rock Loft" and they have a picture gallery in the top of their craft store so we went to see if they had any of Helen Jane's daughter-in-law's paintings. Liz Lemon Swindle is a famous L.D.S. artist and her latest painting is very, very beautiful. She has painted a lot of pictures of Joseph Smith with children but this last painting is of the Three Wise Men with the Christ child and it is just magnificent. The Christ child that she used as a model is her own grandson and the great grandson of Helen Jane. You all probably already know that the Wise Men didn't find the baby Jesus until he was two years old - I didn't even know that. We saw the canvas of this painting but they didn't have it framed yet. We came home after our lunch at the Rock Loft and had root beer floats and visited for about five hours - we tried to catch up on 55 years of not seeing each other often.

CONGRATULATIONS TO LAURA!!! Laura graduated from Davis High School and also four years of Seminary - that is a REAL accomplishment since she left High School early to go to college and I'm proud of her. She loves Logan and her new roommates and is busy in school. It was SO fun to be with her and Brett today - I believe they have missed each other while she has been away at school.

JOHN - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR MESSAGE. John, Laura and Bren had a "once in a lifetime trip" and they loved it. John said he is "buried" in catching up and I'm sure Laura is too. He sent me a picture of them on "Omaha Beach" and said that part of their trip made him very grateful for the sacrifices of so many to assure us the freedoms we all have. He said they visited places he has read about all his life like the Sistine Chapel.

P.S. I sent my letter without finishing it. I tried to access John's letter so I could tell you about all the places they had visited but then I couldn't add to it. He said they saw Michelangelo's David, the Roman Coliseum, St. Peter's Basilica, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pompeii etc. etc. I'm SO glad they were able to go and it will surely make things more real for Bren when he studies them in his school classes. I need to study and learn them all over again.

I think about Michael and Russell all the time and I know they are doing good. My friends who served in Ghana, Africa were the neighbors I have been visiting with tonight and they told me about some very strange things they eat there. Russell, have you ever had "Fou fou"? They came over to read about the new temple in Ghana that was featured in the Church News this weekend - they are very thrilled about that. Michael, I want to hear more about Allessandro - is he getting active in the Branch or Ward?

Mary Ann - thank you SO much for coming over to visit one night last week and bringing your friend. She has a very nice young man for a friend and we had such a good time visiting. I LOVE to meet my grandchildren's friends!!! AND Sarah, thank you SO much for bringing me the delicious dinner last Sunday. She brought me a salmon dinner and I wasn't going to eat it until Monday so I didn't get a fork. I kept looking at it in my family room and it looked so good, I took a piece with my fingers and just about that time Bob and Claire came over - I'm sure they thought they were in a "rest home" with a VERY old woman. I remember Aunt Marvel eating with her fingers when she was in a rest home in Little Rock - Ha!!!

I think that's all the news. I LOVE EACH ONE OF YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH. PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO. GRANDMA B XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOOOOO