Dearest Family,
HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RICK ON SATURDAY,
THE 18TH!!!! I believe he is "thirty something" but whatever age he is,
he is a VERY young "thirty something". I hope you have a WONDERFUL
birthday Rick and since it is on a Saturday I'm betting you will find a
place to boat, fish, golf or just "hang out" and relax.
Susanna - thank you SO much for your e-mails
keeping me informed about hurricanes, "Frances" and "Charly". Steve's
brother, Greg and his wife live in Melbourne, Florida and they were
almost in the eye of Frances and they sent pictures of them taking cover
from the tornadoes that came afterwards. That would have been VERY
scary!!! Do any of your remember our "fraidy hole" in Little Rock - we
were supposed to all go to that little cedar closet at the bottom of our
stairway - we didn't ever have to do it and it's a good thing because we
would have been mighty crowded. I know Roy & Patrice have a place in
their home to go when the tornado warnings are sounded. They didn't
have those warnings when we lived in Arkansas and I'm glad they have
them now. I am worried about Chris and Wayne and "Ivan the Terrible" -
that hurricane looks like it could give them problems. Three hurricanes
in just a matter of a month is "a little much". I hope Rick's Aunt &
Uncle have recovered from "Frances" and won't get damaged again.
Annie - thank you SO much for your long and
newsy letter. I LOVE to keep up with my grandchildren and hear news
about them. I don't blame Jessie for not wanting to spend two years
getting a teaching certificate - that doesn't make sense to me when she
has a master's degree in English. She did her undergraduate work in
technical writing and she would have to take many literature classes to
get enough credits for a teaching certificate - I'm thinking she may be
able to get some of those credits in a home course and she may decide to
do that later on. She is busy working and traveling to San Diego to do
the final requirements for her Master's Degree Certificate. Jimmy is
SUPER busy with his student government work and everything else he is
involved in. Lee Anna is working at the Mall at the store where she has
worked for several years - dating alot and studying ALOT. Russ is still
at UVSC with plans to transfer to BYU (maybe) for the Winter Semester
because he will finish the requirements for his Associate Degree at that
time. Ann & Ron are "consumed" with their BYU Ward - THAT'S ALOT OF
WORK & RESPONSIBILITY!!! I'm sure Ron watched the Stanford-BYU game
last night with mixed emotions. BYU has too many quarterback problems
don't they???
John - I had such a good time in Park City
with Margaret on Sunday and Monday AND the best part was meeting some of
your neighbors. Looking back on that experience I can't believe it
actually happened. Margaret and I had dinner on Sunday night at the
"Stew Pot" in Park City and I visited with a darling family in the lobby
while Margaret went to the little girl's room. This family had three
boys and a little two year old girl - she was such a doll and so were
their boys. They went out to the parking lot and when Margaret came she
said "Did you ask them what time the parade starts in the morning?" I
hadn't asked them because I thought Margaret knew. WELL - Margaret has
never met a stranger in her life - she asked them where they were
staying and it happened they own a condo in the same lodge where
Margaret also owns one so they started talking about their experiences
with the condo managers, etc. and also other mutual friends. SO I asked
the wife where they lived and she said "In Salt Lake - actually it's in
a town South of Salt Lake called Highland". I said "My youngest son
just moved to Highland". The "Rest is History"!!! Their last name is "Oscler"
but I can't remember their first names - I was SO excited. They are
neighbors of John and said they had heard a single man had bought that
home with the barn in back. I asked them if they had met "Tar" and the
boys said they had and they were very interested when I told them about
him being lost for five years. They just live down the street from John
and they are such a special family. They also own horses.
Margaret and I went to the parade on Monday
morning and that's always fun. They have what they call the "Ball Run"
patterned after the "Bull Run" in Spain. They section the middle of
Main Street off with those pvc pipes and then empty thousands of tennis
balls at the top. They sell the balls for $5 and they are numbered -
the ones that get to the bottom of Main Street first win a prize. This
is a fund raising event for the Huntsman Cancer Institute. People come
from all over and the parade is good - mostly young children with
special homemade floats as well as business floats. We went to the park
and had hamburgers and had planned to go to the Home Tour but Margaret's
son Steve had gone the day before and he said it wasn't very good. SO
we went back to the condo and took a nap - Ha!!! We went back to Main
Street later and shopped up and down - they have cute stores!!! One of
my favorite places is the "Cow" ice cream place and they have chocolate
& nut cones - Ha!!!
Don & Cheryl came for me on Thursday
afternoon to go for a ride to see the Fall colors in the canyons. It
was really too early for the leaves to be very pretty but Cheryl loves
to go through the small towns and I LOVED it!!! We went to Morgan and
then through all those little towns that have a mixture of old, old
homes and then some VERY expensive homes - I was SO surprised to see
that part of Utah. Have any of you been to the "East Canyon Dam"?
There is ALOT of water in the lake and there were many boats and water
skiers. THEN Cheryl wanted to take me to see the "Mormon Pioneer Trail"
in the mountains above Emigration Canyon. I was surprised that I had
never been there and I want you to go and take your families if you
haven't done it already. The church has preserved the walking trail
where the Mormon Pioneers traveled and there is a monument called "The
Big Rock" that tells about it. We then went to Morgan to get a "Subway"
sandwich to eat in the car at the Morgan Park - IT WAS A WONDERFUL DAY.
Don enjoys it I know but he doesn't ever talk and he can't get out of
the car to walk. Cheryl wanted to see where Bob & Claire live so we
went down Mutton Hollow on our way home - I went to their door to see
if they would come and say hello to Don. Bob & Claire weren't home but
Katie came out and talked to him - I think he probably frightened her
because he coughs alot and doesn't talk but just stares. I have such
admiration for Cheryl - she takes every opportunity to help Don and make
him happy and he is HARD!!!
Cheryl told me she had visited Elder Boyd
Packer's art exchibit at the Church Museum in Salt Lake - she said he
had put some "Boomerangs" on display and she noticed on one page there
was a little message like we used to write on our yearbooks and it said
"Dear Lela". I wanted to go see it but I didn't get time. I have
wondered that since he had Lela's yearbook, maybe I have his.
I felt SO bad one day last week when Ann
Cobb called. They had attended the Davis County Fair and she said they
had a very nice display showing the humanitarian work done by Bob and
his staff, Roy & John. I called but the Fair was over so I MISSED IT!!!
WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE TELL ME ABOUT IT BEFORE
IT CLOSED?????
Our Stake has just completed a very nice
pavillion out West by our Stake Center. They have asked for volunteers
to help build it for many months but I hadn't seen it until last night.
The Stake had a BIG party there and I went with some of my condo
neighbors and it was VERY NICE. It was a potluck supper with hamburgers
and all the trimmings. - I took a BIG pasta salad and it was completely
eaten - there was a BIG crowd!!! There are many pavillions like that at
our Stake Centers here in Davis County and they provide such a nice
place for parties - I wish they could have had a place like that in
Little Rock. Roy & Patrices' church has a very nice place for their
members to gather "just for fun" and that's important.
I am going to New Mexico with Ellen Mae, Mel
and Helen Jane on Thursday and we will be gone from Sept. 16th - 25th.
It will be a fun trip and I admire Mel for agreeing to do this - he is
84 years old and Ellen Mae said he had some problems with his heart when
they were in Jackson Hole, Wyoming a couple weeks ago - I'M KEEPING MY
FINGERS CROSSED!!! I will stop my mail and my newspapers. Helen Jane
is coming to spend the night with me on Wednesday night and leave her
car here. I will try to call one of you while I am gone to make sure
everything is okay - it is practically impossible to ever get any of you
by phone but I'll try.
UTAH STATE WON THEIR FOOTBALL GAME -
HOORAY!!!! (Sarah - I'm happy the U. of U. won their game too).
I LOVE EACH ONE OF YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH.
PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO. Grandma B
XXXXXOOOOO