Dearest Family,
WOW - what a fun and busy week!!! John just
left and his visit kinda' put the crown on the week of Thanksgiving. The
only way "Thanksgiving Day" could have been better would have been if John,
the Roy Mellors, Russell, Susanna, Steve, Jackson, Barji, Boyd and Preston
could have been with us. I truly thought we had a huge crowd but knowing
Ann and Ron they could always have put up an extra table. They had invited
some members of Ron's ward who couldn't go home for the holidays to come
have dinner and that was special - one young woman had had knee surgery and
since her Mother was here from Mesa, Arizona they both came. The others who
came were typical college students and very appreciative - including Ricky's
friend from Utah State. I don't know exactly how many were there but it was
close to 30 and we all sat at long and beautifully decorated tables and
there was LOTS of delicious food.
I got to the Woolleys shortly after noon and it
was fun to sit and visit with all of them - Annie is so well organized she
had everything under control and sat down to visit. We had delicious snacks
and then Claire put the quilt she has worked so hard on onto the quilting
frames - she has very special frames and they fit right next to the kitchen
so we didn't have to stop eating - Ha!!! I hope my pictures turn out - Ron,
Rick and Bob stitched right along with the cousins and Ann, Jean and
Claire. This was REALLY funny - after Ron had taken a couple of stitches he
said, "Claire this thread is just not going to work - it will fray out of
the knot". We all looked at Ron as though we would like to knock him off
his chair - Ha!!! As it turned out, he was right and Ann happened to have
some cotton thread that didn't fray - Claire had brought some nylon thread.
It didn't take nearly as long as I had thought and we were finished in about
an hour and it is a beautiful quilt. Mary Ann and David wanted to share
Thanksgiving Day with his family so they didn't get there in time to help so
we teased them about that.
This was our THANKSGIVING FEAST: Roasted and
smoked turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes with pineapple,
cranberry salad, green lettuce salad, cranberries, Pilgrim corn, Western
dressing, rolls, a delicious carbonated drink (I believe it was Sprite) and
then desserts: marshmallow chocolate brownies, chocolate truffles, pumpkin,
pecan and buttermilk pies. It was SIMPLY WONDERFUL!!! Ann has LOTS of
those "take home boxes" so we each took some food home and I had my second
Thanksgiving feast today after church. I noticed that all of Ron's ward
friends also took boxes home. I don't believe the Woolleys had many
leftovers.
Ron's sister, Mimi, has been in the hospital
with pneumonia so Ann and Ron went to Jerome on Friday after Mary Ann's
luncheon to check on her. I had a message from Ann this morning and she
said Mimi is better but Russell's new wife is also ill with the flu. Hope
they get better soon.
I was SO happy with Mary Ann's bridal luncheon
on Friday at noon at the Oakridge Country Club. There is nothing I enjoy
better than to have my family together and especially to see how the girl
cousins enjoy each other - the boy cousins do too but I'm not sure they
would enjoy going to a luncheon. David's Mom, Grandmother, sisters and
sisters-in-law also came and they are such a lovely group of women and I
LOVED becoming better acquainted with them. Mary Ann was very gracious and
she looked beautiful. I could see Jeannie taking lots of pictures so I
didn't take very many - hopefully she will share. The Country Club was all
decorated for Christmas and they had carols playing and it was very, very
nice.
We went to the Weinert's home after the luncheon
for dessert and to listen to Sarah and Lara (David's sister) play their
violin duet and Barji accompanied them on the piano. It was just beautiful
and brought tears to our eyes. Mary Ann was such a good sport and put my
wedding dress on so we could take pictures. I'm sure that is not a favorite
thing to do but it means alot to me and that dress is almost as beautiful as
it was 55 years ago. I have kept it wrapped in blue paper in my cedar chest
all this time and it has traveled all over the United States as we have
moved around. I wore it for a picture on our 25th wedding anniversary but I
could never get into it now!!! We can't quite figure out how the veil goes
but other than that it's beautiful. Jeannie has their home all decorated
for Christmas so it was a fabulous setting.
I was SO proud of Susanna - she had just arrived
from Florida in time for the luncheon and little Jackson had been up since 2
o'clock in the morning so that means Susanna had been up that long too. He
was a little fussy and Susanna is so sensitive that I know it was hard for
her - it didn't bother anyone else. I was SO proud of Claire, Laura and
Katie too - they were participating in a wedding in Heber but they came to
the luncheon even though they had to leave a little early. It was SO good
to see Jessie and hear about her life in San Diego - she loves her
schoolwork. I also LOVED seeing Michael, Ricky, Brett & Jimmy - they're
growing up too fast!!! I find myself laughing when I think of Lee Anna
describing her life at BYU - she said, "Grnadma B, it is SO hard" - she
looked just darling and so did Laura & Katie. I AM SO PROUD OF ALL OF MY
GRANDCHILDREN. All in all it was a near perfect day and I loved it!!!
I went to "Maddox" last night to meet some of my
former High School Friends - one of them had come from California and she
wanted as many of us as could to get together. The food there is good but
not as good as our Thanksgiving Feast - Ha!!! It was fun to be with them
and after we had eaten we went to the condo belonging to one of the
couples. This condo is built on the golf course behind the old Bushnell
General Hospital and that brought back LOTS of memories!!!
John is doing good and he told me they had
certified for scuba diving so they are excited for their Hawaiian Cruise. I
hope the Roy Mellors are doing good too and I know they are.
Russell - I hope you will write and tell about
your Thanksgiving and I hope your folks will share your letter with all of
us. It must be very difficult to have a mission where you must sort out the
ones to teach and only spend time with "seed stock". Some friends of mine
in Orem served in Africa a few years ago and they said they were supposed to
make sure those people joining the church were sincere about the doctrine
and not joining just for monetary help from the church. We talked about you
during our time at your home in Provo and we're all VERY proud of you.
Annie and Ron - thanks for the potatoes. I will
be sure to go to the Weinerts and get some - there is nothing better than
Idaho potatoes. I'm sorry I missed you last night.
I LOVE EACH ONE OF YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH.
PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO. Grandma B
XXXXXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOO
Dearest Family,
I GOOFED AGAIN!!!!
HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ANNIE TOMORROW -
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3RD!!!
I didn't turn my calendar page over and since
my calendar is my Bible I didn't remember that it was Ann's birthday so
soon. I remembered earlier but then forgot when I went to write my
letter. I'M SORRY ANN!!! I hope you have a WONDERFUL birthday - I'm
thinking that your trip to Hawaii was your birthday present!!! I can't
believe you are as old as you are - you look like you are in your
twenties!!! When I have been working with some old family pictures and I
see how old I was at 54 and how old my Mother was at 54, YOU MUST HAVE
BORROWED SOME GENES FROM ANOTHER FAMILY!!!
I LOVE YOU ANN AND ALL MY FAMILY - MOM -
GRANDMA B XO