Dearest Family,
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO EACH ONE OF YOU - I
HOPE YOU HAVE A FUN DAY ON FRIDAY. I'm sure my grandchildren who are still
in elementary school will have fun - I guess that will just be Timothy and
Jesse. Brett, Jimmy, Emily and Katie will have fun too but I don't believe
they will be handing out Valentines to all their classmates and that used to
be SO much fun. We would spend many days making Valentine boxes to put our
cards in and we would spend hours choosing just the right card for the right
person - Ha!!! Do you still put Valentines on the doorsteps of your
friends, ring the doorbell and then run?
Winter has arrived in Utah - we don't have much
snow but it is COLD!!! It is fun to look out the windows and see the snow
on the mountains. I have snow on my back patio from when it snowed earlier
in the week. I was SO excited on Thursday morning as I was listening to the
weather news on television and they said it was snowing in Little Rock,
Arkansas. I could just see Jessie sitting so comfortably watching his
cartoons and happy because their school had been cancelled. I called them
expecting one of the children to answer the phone but it was Patrice and she
said they were all in school - the news I had heard was wrong. Patrice said
they had snow earlier in the week but they hadn't cancelled school. It was
fun talking to you Patrice but I felt bad that I didn't even ask about your
work - she told me all about Roy's work and the children's schools and
everything - I guess I'm not used to having you work - SORRY!!! Emily, I
hope your science experiment went well - she was doing an experiment for the
Science Fair that had something to do with determining which kind of yeast
worked better in making bread.Timothy is REALLY enjoying his "Math Counts"
work in school.
Russell - your last letter was a "Masterpiece"
and I think all the missionaries going into the field should read it. It
takes ALOT of "grit" to be a good missionary and the sooner the young men
learn that, the better off they are. I know it must still be VERY hot and
humid where you are and when I read that you are still getting ALOT of rain
I know that makes it even more miserable. Your Mission President will
probably put you "out in the field" again before you are released and what
great experiences you are having!!! I see the missionaries walking on the
streets here in Farmington and I am reminded of you often.
Annie - Thanks for your letter. I think it is
just WONDERFUL for Ron to invite members of his ward to your home for dinner
on Sunday. You are such a good cook and make everyone feel so welcome and I
know that helps those young people. You have had such good experiences at
BYU and now you are making sure others have those same experiences and I'm
SO proud of you. I talked to Dianne yesterday and she said she wants her
daughter Janni to come home to California after she graduates in April - she
doesn't want her to stay in Utah. That is different from the way she has
felt in previous years. I don't believe Janni and Jaime have found friends
they had hoped to find there - I'm probably wrong but that's the impression
I get. Jaime just married but she married a High School friend from
California.
John - I just about cried when I read in the
Deseret News a few days ago that Viewpoint is closing its office in Draper,
Utah. I am worried about Laura. The article said they were having to let
28 workers go. It also said they were keeping their offices in Los Angeles
and New York open. The article said that until about 2 years ago every car
that was digitized on a TV commercial was done by Viewpoint - it was just
about 2 years ago that you left Viewpoint. How do you feel about all that?
I hope your work is doing good - our economy is just terrible and will
probably get worse if we go to war.
Barji - I have thought about you all week after
you called me on Monday afternoon. We have mutual friends who live in Barji
and Boyds' ward. These friends have a handicapped daughter who is confined
to a wheelchair and Barji was making her some cookies - Barji wanted to know
where she lived. This reminded me of when we lived in Little Rock and
Jeannie used to make custards to take to an elderly man who was a member of
our ward. I am always SO happy when I find out about compassionate services
being done by my family AND that is often.
Claire has invited me to come for dinner tonight
and to see videos of their trip to Costa Rica. She sent me some pictures
via "Shutterfly" on the internet and they are wonderful - it will be fun to
have them tell me more about them when I see them on video.
I took my neighbor, Martha to lunch on Monday
for her birthday - we went to McGrath's fish house and the food was great.
Then she took me to a "Grocery Outlet" where you can get food bargains. She
is a very sweet person and does much too much for me - she is constantly
bringing me delicious food that I can't resist!!!
I put new fabric on some dining room chair seats
and tried to refinish the arms on two of them. I definitely do not like to
refinish things and I'm not good at it - I think they look better than they
did though. The fabric is the same as the kind they have had on them - I
bought extra when they were done the first time in Little Rock many years
ago. THEN I bought some curtain panels for my two side windows in the
living room and made them to fit - it just took me two days - Ha!!!
Patrice - when you come again I want you to
visit the new library in Salt Lake. It cost 84 million dollars and they
just opened it this weekend. I haven't been there but the pictures of it
look just fabulous.
Salt Lake celebrated the one year anniversary of
the Olympics last night and they REALLY celebrated. Mitt Romney couldn't
attend because of the "High Alert" President Bush has put on the nation
because of terrorist worries - Romney is Governor so he had to go back to
his State.
He came for the first few days but had to go
back.
The Weinerts came over last Sunday and took me
to their home to see their "Paint Job". I couldn't believe the difference
it has made in their home - it is just GORGEOUS!!!
That's all the news - I think!!! I LOVE EACH
ONE OF YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH. PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL IN
EVERYTHING YOU DO . Grandma B XXXXXXXOOOOOOO