Dearest Family,
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO EACH ONE OF YOU. I
thought sure we would have many weddings at the Bountiful Temple next
Saturday but there is only one scheduled. The Ogden Temple is closed so
I don't know where the couples are having their weddings but it isn't in
Bountiful.
MANY THANKS TO YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION FOR
SHIRLEY'S GENEALOGY BOOK!!! I was SO happy to come to the computer
right now and find Mary Ann & Davids' information - AND I was SO happy
to come from Wyoming on Friday and find letters from Annie with their
information and a letter from the Reeves with information that I needed
about Susanna, Steve and Jackson. I also had a phone message from
Jeannie telling me she would come on Monday with all their information.
NOW I need to get the right pictures and get it all together to mail to
Shirley this week. Annie wrote to me that Shirley wanted the script
from Lynn's video for her genealogy book so she and John have worked on
that too. I JUST HOPE THIS ISN'T "BUSY WORK" AND THAT SHIRLEY REALLY
WILL FINISH THE BOOK. I know the next request will be for funds to help
and I will be happy to send what she asks for. This REALLY is a worthy
project and you have to be my age to appreciate that!!!
WOW - we REALLY got "dumped" on last
night!!! I measured 8 inches of snow on my deck and it was just
beautiful fluffy snow - the kind Utah is famous for. Our condo manager,
his wife and his four sons were all out shoveling bright and early this
morning and they did a good job of clearing the roads before church
started. I wish it had snowed like this while Timothy & Jesse were here
- they saw ALOT of snow but it didn't ever actually snow - it was just
cold, cold, cold!!!
Claire - thank you SO much for the news
about the national cheerleading competition you are attending with
Katie. I don't know where you are but I could tell that Davis was in
the finals and that's just GREAT!!! I'm anxious to hear all about it
and I hope they will feel good about what they accomplished. I don't
ever feel like the teams have to win at the top - I just think it is SO
worthwhile for them to have all that energy and desire to compete and
they learn so many important lessons.
Roy & Patrice - I LOVED Suzie's long letter
telling me about all the activities going on in your household and I
will answer her letter. I'm SO happy Emily is involved with her flute
in the Arkansas Orchestra Concerts and I'm also SO happy that Timothy is
doing the same thing with his saxophone - it is just WONDERFUL that
music is such a big part of their lives and I love to look at the
picture I have of Jesse practicing his piano lessons. I'm glad that
Suzie is involved in her garden clubs and her other interests that are
similar to those of my friend, Chris Jordin. There are a million
cultural activities available in Little Rock and I miss them. Chris
goes to the symphony often and she loves that. I couldn't help but
appreciate Suzies appreciation for Roy's careful driving on your icy
roads - Roy doesn't take chances and I appreciate that too!!!
I must tell the Roy Mellors about my crocus
plants. They ordered them for me for Christmas and when they came they
had the nicest container and everything but the crocus bulbs were
missing. I called the company and they promised me they would send them
immediately BUT they didn't come before Roy & the boys were coming so I
went to the nursery hoping to buy some but they said they were
unavailable. I bought some blooming cactus plants instead and I am
enjoying them. WELL - the crocus bulbs did arrive with all the
instructions and it was too late to follow them so I just put them out
in my COLD garage hoping they would survive. I looked at them a few
days ago and they had started to grow so I brought them inside by the
window and started to water them and THEY ARE GROWING FAST!!! It is SO
much fun to watch them - especially with all the snow outside.
John - Thank you SO much for coming to spend
a night in my condo - even though I wasn't here!!! It makes my condo
more like home when I have family members come like that and use it as
their home too. John wanted to do some computer stuff and my condo is
SO close to the airport that it's very convenient for him and I hope he
will do it more often. It was funny - as I walked in after being gone
all week I saw a large pair of men's shoes in my doorway and since that
is a very uncommon sight in my condo it was fun to see - Ha!!! John had
left a pair of his shoes. I had asked Bob to get my mail while I was
gone so he was relieved when John called and told him he would take care
of it. I could have my mail stopped at the post office but it helps me
if I know that someone will walk through my condo while I'm gone to make
sure I haven't left something on. Some friends of mine left for a long
time last Summer and one of their toilets flooded their entire
downstairs and caused ALOT of damage - that haunts me!!!
I believe the Weinerts are in Pebble Beach,
California for the golf tournament. I haven't heard how Boyd is doing
but the important thing is that they are all together having a GOOD time
and supporting Boyd and helping with Preston. They planned to come home
tonight I think - Ricky and Sarah went with Jean & Rick and of course
they will be with Boyd, Barji & Preston.
One of my friends here in Farmington has
suffered with lymphoma this past year. Her husband called me last week
and told me the doctors did a biopsy and in doing it they severed a
nerve and she couldn't talk. He said someone had recommended that they
go to see Bob for his opinion on what to do. I had a message on my
phone machine telling me how impressed they were with Bob when they saw
him last week.
We had a wonderful time in Wyoming. We left
here about noon on Monday and didn't get to Etna until about 9:30 that
night and it is only a four hour drive. We stopped in Logan at the
"Sock Shop" and at the "Pepperidge Outlet" for some snacks and then for
dinner and we just took our time which makes our trips so much fun.
They have ALOT of snow in Etna and they had cleared the little lane
leading to Margaret's home but they had piled it in front of her gate.
When we drove to that point we just looked at each other and laughed and
tried to decide what we should do. Margaret didn't have a shovel so we
put gloves on and used our hands to move as much snow as we could and
she had a very small plastic blade in her car with a handle and we used
that but what really worked was for us to just stomp on it until we
could get it low enough so her car wouldn't "high center". It was a
beautiful night with a big moon so it was kinda' fun and Margaret
finally decided she could drive over it. Her home is SO comfortable and
it didn't take us long to unload all our luggage and fix a little snack
and start our weeklong visit. We always enjoy "Stephens Chocolate" and
she has an abundance of every flavor. There were only four of us:
Margaret, Patt Guthrie, Mary Ann Holman and me. We played monopoly one
night but didn't ever take time to finish it - we watched "The Way We
Were" with Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand one night and went into
Thayne and Afton several times but mostly we just solved all the world
problems and relaxed. Margaret had to attend a Hospital Board Meeting
on Thursday evening so we went in with her and shopped and ate at a
pizza place until she was through. We always stop at "Maverick's" on
the way home to get a hot dog!!!
We got home Friday evening about 6 o'clock -
I hurried and unpacked and did the bare necessities and then went to bed
so I could get up early on Saturday morning. I hurried home from the
temple on Saturday afternoon so I could go with the "girls" to a program
in Salt Lake on the University of Utah campus and after that we went to
Oakridge Country Club for dinner. We left there about 7:30 and it was
snowing REALLY hard - I was VERY tired so I went right to bed and was
quite surprised to awaken this morning to find all the snow. I was VERY
happy that my church meetings didn't start until 12:30. NOW I need to
get caught up on all the things for Shirley's book and everything else.
I don't know how Margaret does all that she does - she NEVER slows
down!!! We stayed up late every night while we were in Etna and as a
result I slept until about 10 a.m. I am most always in bed by 9:30 -
10:00 p.m. and Margaret says she never goes to bed before 1:00 a.m.
I watched the interview of President Bush
this morning on television. Did any of you watch it? I hope noone in
my family ever goes into politics as a profession. I personally feel
like he is a very good and sincere man and Kerry is attacking him so
viciously. I don't know all your politics and I don't want to know but
I hope we will all take an active part in supporting the things we
believe in. I am VERY disgusted with the Janet Jackson/Timberlake
episode on the half time show of the Super Bowl last Sunday.
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 XXXXXOOOOO