Dearest Family,
HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAVID ON WEDNESDAY
- I HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!!! I know you are still in school and
working so it will be a busy day - I hope Mary Ann will make you a BIG
birthday cake!!! I am very impressed with all your capabilities and
ambition!!!
Laura - thank you SO VERY MUCH for your
visit and your Dads last Sunday. Laura brought over her "Maine Album"
and shared her pictures with me and I just loved it. She surely had
some GREAT experiences and her pictures were beautiful besides being
very interesting and I learned alot about the girls she was teaching and
the camp where she worked. I'm happy that she is keeping in touch with
many of the girls and the other camp teachers she worked with. There
was only one girl in the group of six that didn't live in the East and
she was from California - it was fun to hear Laura tell about their
different personalities and backgrounds. Most of them came from VERY
wealthy families. I loved the picture she had of the New York L.D.S.
Temple and I was surprised to see how small it is - very different from
most of the temples in the world. I know many of you have seen it - it
is on one corner in New York across the street from businesses and the
building also has a ward chapel in it. Laura kept saying they utilitzed
the small space to accommodate many church things and the access was by
elevators. I can't envision the "Angel Moroni" on top of that building
- that statue is usually very high to the sky on top of other temples.
I love going to the Bountiful temple about 5 o'clock in the morning when
it is still dark outside and see that bright golden statue up close to
the sky. Oh Well - I'm sure the members in New York are just happy to
have a temple close to them.
Jeannie - I appreciate your visit last week
too. I appreciate SO much keeping up with my grandchildren and learning
about their activities. Sarah is settled in at the University of Utah
and she is happy to have her own apartment with her friend. Ricky is
happy to have a job in Draper and he is living in Provo. He enjoyed
going to the Woolleys last Sunday for dinner and being with some of his
cousins - I believe Brett was there also. There are always LOTS of
young people at the Woolleys on Sunday - Ron's ward members have their
Family Home Evenings there often.
Susanna - I love your little e-mail messages
and I hope you and Steve find a fun activity for the Labor Day weekend.
That is a challenge with a two year old and a four month old - GOOD
LUCK!!! I think about you when I hear the weather news on television -
it is HOT in Phoenix but it is a dry and healthy heat and I worry about
Steve's parents' home in Destin, Florida with all the hurricane news.
It is hard for me to follow the direction the hurricane is taking and
then try to trace it on my map - I think it is going to get to the
Smith's home in Gulf Shores and so far it has completely missed them and
I can never tell about Destin. That would surely be a difficult way to
live - not knowing for sure if your home is going to be destroyed or not
and there isn't anything they could do about it. I think the Reeves
family lives far enough inland so they aren't worried. I want to cry
when I see all the millions of people driving away from their homes to
escape the devastation that weather can cause.
I said in my letter last week that I was
going to go to Wyoming - WELL - my friend, Mary Ann Holman, who was
going with me couldn't go because her Mother fell and broke her hip and
then she died within a couple days. Needless to say - we didn't go to
Wyoming. I also said I may go to China - WELL - the tour that Ellen Mae
& Mel were going on is full so I won't be going there either. Helen
Jane and I could go on Nov. 9th but Nov. 5th is full - we don't feel
comfortable in going on such a long tour with complete strangers. They
said they would call if they have a vacancy but for now we won't be
going. I am still going to Ruidoso, New Mexico next week - we leave on
Sept. 16th and will be gone until about Sept. 25th. That will be a fun
trip. Ellen Mae & Mel have bought a very beautiful new van - I don't
know if we will go in that or not - that's up to Mel.
I went to the Summerhays ward meeting this
morning and Boyd blessed their new little baby girl - Grace Summerhays.
He gave her such a beautiful blessing and it was such a wonderful
meeting. I have never seen so many little children and Sarah told me
they have 4 nurseries in their ward. Barji looked SO pretty and it was
fun to see Boyd's family again as well as Ricky, Mary Ann, David, Sarah,
Rick & Jean. Little Preston surely does love his Grandmother Jean - as
soon as he saw her he made a "beeline" to go sit on her lap. She cared
for him several days last week while Boyd & Barji had a little
vacation. Jeannie keeps mighty busy - she had two bridal showers last
Saturday - one in the morning and one in the afternoon. That little
Gracie is a real beauty and I can't believe all her black hair. I had
to laugh at Barji - I asked her what color Gracie's eyes were and she
said "You know, Grandma B, I don't even know" - Ha!!! Boyd's
grandparents from Salt Lake were there and all his brothers & sisters
and their families. Lynn Summerhays and Rick had to leave right after
the blessing to get to their ward assignments.
Helen Jane came to Layton last Monday so we
could plan a little about our trips - we didn't know at that time that
we wouldn't be able to go to China. Helen Jane is such a fun person to
be with - so energetic!!! We ate at the food court at the Layton Hills
Mall. Ellen Mae & Mel took me with them on Thursday and we went to Salt
Lake to visit our friend, Clinton Holmes. Clinton is home now but is on
oxygen and not doing as well as he would like. They also took me to
visit with Don at the Veteran's Nursing Home in Salt Lake. I was REALLY
surprised to see how well Don is doing - he was out in the hall by his
room when I got there and he called "Hello Barbara" from quite a long
ways away. Ellen Mae & Mel went into the nursing home and he knew them
and actually talked a little - he hasnt' talked to anyone for a LONG
time. That's the best I have seen him for many months - Cheryl told me
she had taken him to their home last Sunday and he walked from the car
into their house - they usually have to carry him or put him into his
wheelchair.
Margaret called me a few minutes ago and
invited me to go to her home in Park City this afternoon. We will spend
the night and go to the Labor Day (Miner's) Parade in the morning and
then maybe go to the home tour in the afternoon. We want to come home
tomorrow because we are going to Brigham City for Mary Ann's mother's
funeral on Tuesday. BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!! I will call Bob & Jean so they
will know I am not going to be home tonight for their visit - I
APPRECIATE THEIR VISITS SO MUCH!!!!
I have talked to John a few times this week
and he is doing fine - he is also VERY busy. He wants to invite all of
us to his home on October 3rd for our potluck "Conference Dinner" - I
will LOVE that and we will plan that later. I have that BIG pot of
Wayne Smith's seafood gumbo and we will plan other things around that
for our dinner - THINK ABOUT IT AND PLAN ON IT!!! JOHN - I have
finished a good part of the "picture project" - now I want to select
special pictures that weren't in my albums to include and also some of
my Thailand Mission pictures.
I went to Lehi last Wednesday for some
"green belt" business and I drove around our property there. The farms
need to be cut or have cows on them for grazing - the hay is quite
tall. They are beautiful though. I wanted to see if I could find
John's house so I went to Highland and drove right to it. I just LOVE
his home - I went into his backyard and threw a few balls to Tar - I
also just LOVE that dog and that's unusual for me. John has a beautiful
peach tree that is just loaded with fruit - I picked several peaches and
they are delicious. I also drove past Aunt Marvel's home and they have
extended it out in back from the kitchen area - it looks like maybe they
have added a large washer & dryer room on. THEN I drove to Orem and
went past John's home there and you just wouldn't believe all they have
done in that backyard - it is very, very nice. They have built a
stairway up to that deck outside the living room and they don't have a
flower garden anymore - it is all patio. They have put on new shingles
and painted the shutters a dark red - I had to ask myself "why didn't we
think of that" - Ha!!!
I don't have any news about the Roy Mellor
family - I know they will be getting ALOT of rain from the hurricane and
I hope they won't get any of the strong winds. We have had some very
unusual weather for August - it has been quite cool and rainy but it is
pretty today and warming up.
BYU won their game last night - HURRAY!!!
I was SO worried they would lose in the last quarter like they have done
before. It was a good game and Notre Dame was surprised I think. I
asked Sarah if she had gone to it and she said "Grandma B, I went to the
University of Utah game on Thursday night" - they also won. I forget
that we have many allegiances to colleges here. Utah State got "slammed
by Alabama - DARN!!!! I LOVE this time of year.
I LOVE EACH ONE OF YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH.
PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO. Grandma B
XXXXXOOOOO