Dearest Family,
HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY TO SARAH ON FRIDAY - MAY
21st!!!!! I remember SO well when Sarah was born - we were in Billings
and I wanted to come home because Jeannie was having alot of health
problems. We got home the first of July and I have some wonderful
pictures of when Sarah was blessed and it was right before John left on
his mission - I CAN'T BELIEVE IT COULD BE THAT LONG AGO!!!! I hope you
have a REALLY wonderful Birthday - I'm betting you will go out to dinner
with your family.
Congratulations to Jimmy - he has been
appointed the Timpview Newspaper Sports Editor for next year and also to
the Student Government. He will also be playing football so he will
have a VERY busy year. I think of the fun he and Brett will have
together for the little time they will be together as Brett starts at
BYU.
Lee Anna - I think about you as you are
preparing "half" the meals for your family since you have moved home.
You always said you wanted to take cooking lessons from your Mom and
from what she is saying - you are a better cook than she is - is that
possible????? I think your kitchen must truly be a gourmet eating place
and I think that is FANTASTIC!!!!
I have also thought about Jessie all weekend
as she has graduated from San Diego State University - I hope you had
fun with your Mom & Dad as you had a VERY deserved celebration!!! I
want to hear all about the ceremony, etc. I love to read the addresses
given for commencement exercises and I want to give all my grandchildren
the advice that Larry Miller gave to the graduates from Snow College - I
THOUGHT IT WAS SO GOOD. He is the owner of the Jazz basketball team and
has been so very successful in all his business dealings. He said he
knew the graduates were concerned about competition in the world today
so he gave this advice: "IF YOU WANT TO ELIMINATE HALF OF THE
COMPETITION, SHOW UP. IF YOU WANT TO ELIMINATE THREE-FOURTHS OF THE
COMPETITION , SHOW UP ON TIME. IF YOU WANT TO ELIMINATE 90 PERCENT OF
THE COMPETITION SHOW UP WITH A GOOD ATTITUDE. HANDLING THE REST OF THE
COMPETITION IS MORE DIFFICULT - YOU'VE GOT TO OUTWORK THEM. IF YOU'RE
GOING TO ACCOMPLISH EXTRAORDINARY THINGS, YOU'VE GOT TO PUT FORTH THAT
EXTRAORDINARY EFFORT". MILLER ADDED THAT HE IS CONCERNED ABOUT A TREND
HE SEES IN SOCIETY OF PEOPLE, WHEN THEY MAKE MISTAKES, TURNING TO LOOK
AT THE NEAREST PERSON OR INSTITUTION TO POINT THEIR FINGER AT.
ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY, HE ADVISED IS A CRITICAL PART OF PERSONAL
INTEGRITY.
I went to a musical concert at Davis High
School last Wednesday and I was absolutely THRILLED to see and hear
Brett play the drums. They featured as soloists some of the members of
the Jazz Band who were graduating and they featured Brett on the drums.
I have seen him play many times but I have NEVER seen him play alone and
I was flabbergasted at how good he is!!! I had a good seat and I was SO
proud of him - I wanted to stand up and say "That's my grandson"!!! He
also played the zylophone (I don't believe that is what they call them
now) with the "symphony band" - (I don't know what that is called
either). It was a GREAT evening of music and I am SO impressed with the
talent of the young people. They also have an excellent choir.
Roy - THANK YOU SO MUCH for your letter and
pictures I received last Sunday. I had already written my letter so I
will tell you about them now. Roy chaperoned some members of Timothy's
class when they went to Washington D.C. for a "Math Counts" competition
last week and he took Jesse with them too. They had a wonderful time
and had a personal tour of the Capitol given by their congressman and
they also visited the new World War 11 Memorial that hasn't even been
dedicated yet. Roy sent pictures of the Memorial and it is VERY
IMPRESSIVE. I have read about it but I had no idea it would be that
elaborate. It thrills me to have my children teach your children about
historical events and that war has special significance for our family -
all wars do but Lynn served in that one and their "great" uncle lost his
life in it. It also thrills me to know of the support you all give to
your children in their activities.
I had a nice letter from Dan Woods telling
me that he had attended Garland Goodwin's death. Dan worked with
Garland at Timex so they became good friends. Dan said he had never
known such a fine man - he said he could never remember him saying
anything bad about anyone during the entire thirty years they worked
together. Do any of you remember him? He had a son named Danny who
would be about Bob's age. Danny's wife is the Woods' postal carrier. I
didn't know Garland well but Daddy surely thought alot of him. Garland
worked with Lynn in Stake programs and he lived in North Little Rock.
The International President of D.U.P. is in
my camp and she invited me to help at the "Days of '47 Royalty Pageant"
yesterday. I still can't quite understand why I was asked to help but I
just loved it. I have never seen a pageant like that - there were 47
young women competing for the title of queen and 1st & 2nd attendants.
It was held at the Little Theatre of the Conference Center and it was
just packed with family members of the contestants. It was all about
"The Young Women" and they were given the opportunity to speak and
"parade" in front of the judges and audience SO it was long. They were
dressed in very modest suits or dresses as well as evening dresses - no
bathing suits and they didn't compete in talents. I made choices but
none of the ones I chose made it. The young women all have to have
"Mormon Heritage" and the girl who won had a great grandmother who wrote
one of our L.D.S. songs "Carry On". I was also invited to have dinner
with the contestants at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and that was
special - it was fun to get a "little" acquainted with some of them. I
was with a woman who has written some books about the Martin's Cove
Memorial and I told her that I had a great grandfather who was in the
rescue party and she asked his name - I told her it was Alonzo Rhodes
and she said "Oh yes, I have researched him". I'll have to find out
more about that.
Emily - I thought about you last night at
the pageant. They had the 2003 Royalty put on a little program - the
queen and her 2nd attendant sang a song and the 1st attendant
accompanied them on the flute - IT WAS JUST BEAUTIFUL!!! I also thought
that all my granddaughters were as beautiful as the pageant contestants.
I went to our Relief Society "Enrichment"
meeting last Tuesday night. I made another 72 hour emergency food kit.
I have such admiration for the young women in my ward who arrange things
like this - two women went to "Sam's" with their four little children to
get all the food and there were boxes and boxes of food to be "bagged
and preserved".
John - I REALLY appreciate your phone call -
I GUESS - HA!!! I have been working on the picture project commentaries
and when I told John how I was doing it, he said "Oh Mom, not that
way!!!!" SO I went back and re-did some of the commentaries I had
done. WILL I EVER GET IT RIGHT??????????? Carol Ann called me last
week and I told her about the project and she said, "Oh, how could I get
a copy of that?" WOW - NO WAY!!!!!! John is doing good and there was a
neat article about his company in our paper last week.
I thought about Bob, Roy & John in our
church meeting today. The subject was about the restoration of the
Priesthood and the different wards are planning their "Father & Sons'
Outings". That was always such a special time in our family and I
believe each one of you went even when you were babies and in diapers.
I feel like I should write a little about
the terrible crisis the United States is in - I CAN JUST HEAR YOU ALL
SAYING, MOM IS WATCHING TOO MUCH TELEVISION!!!! The "prison pictures"
of naked Iraqi prisoners was SO damaging to them and to our country and
then the "beheading" of a U.S. man in Iraq was almost too much to bear.
I don't want any members of my family doing any traveling and I know I
can't control that BUT I can advise you to be extra, extra careful.
I LOVE EACH ONE OF YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH -
PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO. GRANDMA B
XXXXXOOOOO