June 2, 2002 Farmington, Utah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JOHN ON THURSDAY - JUNE 6TH!!! I like to remember the day he was born, June 6, 1966. Lynn had to take me to the hospital in the middle of the night and Bob & Roy were supposed to be camping out in our backyard with the Aston boys. Well - when we left our home they were no where near to be found but as we drove out of Leawood we saw them just walking around in the neighborhood. Needless to say, we called Ann & Jean to make sure they came home and stayed there!!! I also remember when we would take John in for his physical checkups and the doctor would always say "he's the leader of the pack". He was SO big!!! I hope you have a WONDERFUL day John - I wish you were closer and I would bake you a cake and have a family party. It has been much too long since you have been home.

CONGRATULATIONS TO LEE ANNA - she graduated from Timpview High School last Thursday and I got there in time to get a good seat and be with her family. The last time I went for Russell's graduation I never did find him or his family so I wanted to get there early and as it turned out I ran right into Lee Anna as she was going in to get "lined up" and she looked SO beautiful. I was very proud of Lee Anna and her "gold braid" - she graduated with a 3.79 G.P.A. We all met out on the lawn in back of the Marriott Center to take pictures and it was so much fun to see her group of friends and the love they have for each other - they have been together for a long time. I became acquainted with Susanna and Jessies' group of friends when I lived in Orem but I haven't had that opportunity with Lee Anna's friends and I LOVED being with them and they are all beautiful young women. Ron has let each one of "HIS DAUGHTERS" choose a restaurant to celebrate their graduations and Lee Anna chose Chevys so we went there for lunch and it was just delicious and as usual I ordered too much so I had enough for dinner that night. It was such a SPECIAL day!!!

Annie - I was SO proud of you on Thursday!!! Ann is on the school board of the district where Timpview is and she spoke at the graduation and then handed out some of the diplomas. I was absolutely flabbergasted and I kept wanting to jump up and shout "she is my daughter" but I was sitting by Susanna and she wouldn't let me - Ha!!! Those of you who have been in the Marriott Center know about the large television screen up near the ceiling and when I looked up there and saw such a close up picture of Annie I just burst with pride. She had an "apricot colored" suit on and she looked like a movie star but more important than that was the message she presented - it was very obvious that she had spent a great deal of time preparing and it was just excellent!!! WAY TO GO ANNIE. I remember that Dan Woods was on the school board when Bob and Terry graduated and he "hugged" Terry as he handed her the diploma and I was hoping Ann would hug Lee Anna too and she did.

Patrice - thank you SO much for your wonderful and newsy letter telling me about your activities on Memorial Day - they had a very special Memorial Day. Roy went with Timothy to the space camp in Huntsville, Alabama - I believe Roy was a chaperone for his fifth grade class and they were gone Wednesday through Friday. I just LOVED the picture of the three boys with Roy and I think I recognize the boy in the middle as the neighbor who walks to school with Timothy and Jesse and comes to your home often. Emily and Patrice went to Providence, Rhode Island to attend Patrice's 20th reunion from Brown University and I LOVED those pictures too - I hope John will put them on the family website when he gets time. It is amazing how much those two look alike and they are beautiful. Jesse stayed with Grandma Suzie while they were all gone and she took him to his baseball game - I LOVE your baseball uniform Jesse and the determined look on your face reminds me of your Dad when he played baseball. THEN, Roy took Timothy and Jesse on their annual church Buffalo River Float trip and campout - when I told Bob about that, he said, "Wow, that sounds like fun". I just LOVE to hear about my children & grandchildren and their activities and I'm SO glad you will tell me about them. We're excited about your planned trip to Utah in July - that's a special time to visit Utah with LOTS to do.

Michael - thank you SO much for your GREAT e-mail message. I'm so THRILLED that you are actually reading my family news letters and I don't even quiz you - Ha!!! I hope your baptism goes great - I don't know if it were yesterday or next Saturday but that surely is a GOOD way to finish your mission. I don't know when you will close out your e-mail connection but it is getting close.

Russell - I just loved reading about your experience with the head preacher of the "Bethlehem Apostolic Church" in Johannesburg - I think you are mighty brave. There seems to be alot about Madagascar in our newspapers lately - maybe it's because I'm more interested because of you. This week there was a little "Did you know?" article and it said "The ring-tailed lemur, a primate found only on the island of Madagascar meows like a cat". Have you ever heard one do that?

John - thank you for your e-mail messages. I know you are SUPER busy and I hope you will be able to relax soon and do the exercises you enjoy so much. There has been a great deal on the news about the "recovery operations at ground zero" closing down and it has been kinda' sad in a way even though the fact that they would not find anyone alive has been accepted for a long time. I listened to former Governor Guliana (spelling ?) speak today about how important it was to make the area some kind of a memorial and not a financial working area. How do you feel about that?

Weinerts - I enjoyed reading the article and seeing the pictures of Boyd in the paper a couple days ago. He is a young man of strong character and integrity who has LOTS of confidence in his golf game and he is doing everything right - I'M PULLING FOR YOU BOYD!!! I feel SO fortunate to have so many interests in my life - I have enoyed watching golf games on television but I have never had the interest in them that I do now because of the Summerhays. I personally think it must be very difficult to have everything you do watched by the newspaper reporters but that's what comes from success and Boyd can handle it!!! I know Jeannie keeps busy - when Mary Ann came to visit me not long ago she told me that Jeannie had had three showers that week for women having babies, getting married, etc., etc. That takes LOTS of time and energy and I hope your feet are feeling better.

Bob and Claire came over to visit with me last night and of course I LOVED that. Bob has been handling the sale of our Scofield cabin and that's a story in itself. A man offered me $5,000 and a time share in a company out of St. George - I turned that down real quick and turned it over to Bob. The man said that the cabin would have to be torn down because the owner of the land, Tony Rudman, wanted something else built in that space. Bob negotiated with him for several days and he finally came up with an offer of $9,000 and said the cabin didn't really have to be torn down. I told Bob that maybe we should counter offer at $12,000 so he did and the man turned that down and said they weren't interested anymore. I think $9,000 is an insult and I'm glad about the way Bob handled it. I will go up and clean the inside and see what will improve it and we'll go from there. Lynn would absolutely turn over in his grave if we sold it (gave it away) for that amount. I thought all night about what Bob told me last night. An E.N.T. doctor from San Salvador had contacted him and told him about the terrible conditions for good medical help in that country and Bob would like so much to be able to spend time there helping them - I'M SO PROUD OF YOU BOB!!!

I went on a "little" dumb trip last Thursday after being with the Woolleys for Lee Anna's graduation. I have wanted to go to West Canyon for some time just to check on the "gate keeper" and see if there have been any changes since I was there about 10 years ago. It's kinda' irresponsible to have that property and not know more about it than I do. I had noticed an ad in our paper for some articles made of the olive wood in Jerusalem that were being displayed and sold at the "Mellor Motel" in Lehi so I thought that was a good opportunity for me to see the motel. Carl Mellor who owns the motel was there when I went and I asked him if he knew where West Canyon was and he offered to take me in his truck to see it. I had already taken up so much of his time because he took me all over the motel so I didn't feel right about having him do that so he drew a map and I ventured out to find it. I drove clear to Cedar Fort without finding the right road but I did find a road that looked kinda' familiar to me so I turned on that one. WELL - it was the most terrible road I have ever driven on and my Subaru is low anyway and I kept thinking - THIS IS SO DUMB!!! I couldn't find a place to turn around until I came to a fence and I knew I couldn't go any further. I went back to Lehi and cleaned my car - it had at least an inch of dirt ALL over it. I never did find the right road but I did buy a "Liahona" at the Jerusalem place - they only had one and they wanted to keep it on display so I will have to pick it up later.

John - the Palestinian who was selling his wooden articles is named Jimmy and Susanna knew him from her "Semester Abroad" - he isn't L.D.S. but he met Carl when Carl took tours to that part of the country and many of his articles are from L.D.S. History. They didn't have anything as nice as the things you have given to me but I kinda' felt obligated because of Carl and they said they would give me a discount because I was a "Mellor". The Liahona was marked $65.00 and they sold it to me for $ 45.00. They had a Noah's Ark that was special - carved from one piece of wood but it was priced $185.00 and he would have sold it to me for $145.

I would like all of you to go to the Lehi Motel sometime just to see some of the history of Lehi - it surely isn't the Marriott but it has a very special atmosphere. It used to be a railroad motel and is right along the railroad tracks - Carl told me that has not been so good for the sleepers when they blow their horns. He said the motel isn't doing really good but he is surely learning alot of history about the pioneers who settled in Lehi. They even have a "quilting building" in back of the motel. They can accommodate 53 people and will serve breakfast and dinner - I have the brochures if you are interested. I believe they only have 2 bathrooms though. There was a black family staying there last Saturday and I got the feeling there is some relative connection to the Carl Mellor family with them - Carl tried to explain it to me but I didn't understand it. I like Carl and he spent alot of time explaining to the Palestinians how Lynn and he were related with the two brothers coming from England - John and James.