Dearest Family,
I am going to write about our Conference
Get-Together at the first of my letter - BECAUSE I think you all might
read the first part of it even if you don't read it all - Ha!!! We
plan to meet at John's home next Sunday, October 3rd, about noon and
have dinner before the afternoon session of conference starts -
REMEMBER, those of us who will travel from the North will listen to the
morning session as we travel!!! The Weinerts will not be able to be
with us - they are going to Sun Valley and we will miss them. We will
also miss the Roy Mellor family and other members of our family who
won't be able to join us - things change as our "young" people get
married and move away and because of this it becomes even more important
for us to get together so we can get an "up date" of each family member.
FOOD ASSIGNMENTS:
Main course - Wayne & Chris Smith's "seafood
gumbo" which has been frozen since their visit in August. Grandma B will
bring gumbo, the rice and a recipe of chicken breasts that is kind of
like "sweet & sour" and some French bread and butter.
Salad - Claire
Dessert - Ann
I think it would be a good idea for each
family to bring the kind of soda pop their family enjoys - I know some
like the diet and others don't. I believe most of us will just want
water.
I haven't talked to John this week but I'm
sure he would let me know if it isn't still okay to have it at his home
- I am excited to be in his home again. I have ALOT of paper plates and
cups that I will bring too. LET'S MAKE IT CASUAL AND NOT WORRY ABOUT
EVERYTHING BEING PERFECT - OKAY!!!! Please let me know if you want any
changes or can't come.
Susanna - THANK YOU SO MUCH for sending me
the website that Steve and his brothers put on the internet. It takes
quite a long time to download so I just accessed the pictures of Jackson
& Caroline last night and this morning I have accessed the rest of
them. WHAT WONDERFUL PICTURES!!! Janet & Doyle (Steve's parents) look
SO happy and they have a beautiful family - it was fun to see Greg &
Jess in the pictures and one of Steve's sisters in law is expecting in
the pictures and then later they have pictures of their baby boy.
Jackson & Caroline are just darling and so are Susanna & Steve. I am SO
sorry to learn that Janet & Doyle had alot of damage to their pool and
yard during hurricane Ivan and also their other store in another part of
Florida. I know that Greg & Jess have gone through another traumatic
time with hurricane Jeanne that hit landfall last night - they live in
Melbourne. I feel SO sorry for the people in Florida who have had SO
much damage with three hurricanes in a row. I can't reach Chris & Wayne
- they don't answer their phone and I'm worried they haven't been able
to return to their home in Gulf Shores yet. I have learned though that
my imaginations aren't always the way things are - Ha!!!
Claire - THANK YOU SO MUCH for the pictures
and letter about your trip to New York. Bob & Claire were in New York
last week for a medical convention and John was there on business. They
weren't able to get together for dinner but they were on the same flight
coming home. Bob & Claire stayed in an old but classy motel by Central
Park and also at the New York Hilton Hotel. Claire said that Senator
Kerry & President Bush were in New York at the same time and the
security was very tight and the traffic terrific. They visited the place
where the World Trade Center was several times - they had a GREAT
time!!! They visited with Michael & Staci in Logan last night and they
are doing really good - I LOVED the pictures of all of you together.
Laura is going to move into an apartment in Salt Lake soon - she will
live with one of her ward friends and start a new job - EXCITING!!!!
I got home from New Mexico yesterday
afternoon about 6 o'clock. We all had a WONDERFUL time and traveled
many miles in the Manning's VERY beautiful and fancy new van!!! We went
to St. George first and had lunch with our friends there; Phyllis &
Swede Larson, Marian & Malcolm Jeppsen, and Margaret & Rulon Gardner -
they live in St. George and met us at the "Chuck A Rama". It was SO
much fun to visit with them again - THEN we went to Flagstaff, Arizona
for the first night. We traveled through the Kaibab Forest, the
Petrified National Park and Dinosaur Land in Arizona. Ellen Mae & Mel
have had "Time Shares' for many years and they travel all over using the
condominiums - I don't really understand how this works!!! We got to
Ruidoso, New Mexico and the condominium in one of their time shares was
ready for us. It was just gorgeous nestled high in the mountains among
pine trees. I had never been to Ruidoso and was kinda' surprised to
find that it is a resort town. We found ourselves in the midst of MANY
motorcycles and learned they were having a convention there and there
were between 35 and 40 thousand of them. They left on Sunday and we
were glad about that. The condominium complex had a FABULOUS swimming
pool and spa - Helen Jane and I spent a great deal of time enjoying
those things!!!
The "Cowboy Jamboree" was on Monday, Tuesday
& Wednesday nights and it was held at the "Flying J Ranch" in the
canyons not far from where we were staying. The programs they put on
are SO good - I believe there were 8 groups from different states - our
favorite group is the "Bar J" group from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They
have a "Chuckwagon Supper" before each program and they serve 600 people
in a very short time and the food is good; roast beef, baked potato,
beans, biscuits, applesauce and and spice cake. It is amazing how they
do it. They serve the same food all three nights with the exception of
chicken instead of the beef if you want it.
We shopped and played bridge during the days
and one day we went on a tour of Ruidoso and the "Pistachio Farm" - that
was SO interesting and of course I had to buy some pistachios and I got
the "hot" ones - red & green chili - I'll share them on Sunday. We also
went to the "St. Joseph Apache Mission" and saw one of the most
beautiful OLD churches way up on a hill that I have ever seen and it was
very interesting to hear the history of that church which they are
restoring. I'll remember that a long time.
We just relaxed and had fun on Thursday. We
visited the museum in Ruidoso and I was VERY surprised to learn one of
the attractions there is "horse racing" - quarterhorse racing. They
have a very large race track and it kinda' reminded me of the horse
racing in Hot Springs, Arkansas. That was such an interesting and
informative afternoon.
We started back home on Thursday and spent
the first night at Cortez, Colorado. WOW - did that ever bring back
memories of our MANY trips from Little Rock to Utah!!!! I remember the
time we came home to see Grandpa Mellor when he was very ill and it was
during Christmas and we were stranded in Monticello, Utah because the
area of Dove Creek was snowed in. I wanted to stop in the Motel where
we stayed for two days to see if they still had the sweater I left -
Ha!!! We used to always stop and buy Anasazi beans. We visited the
L.D.S. temple in Monticello and it is just beautiful - very small but
elegant.
We went through Moab, Canyonlands, Arches
National Park and I thought about Roy & Patrice when they went there on
one of their trips to Utah. THAT IS SUCH BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY. I had been
through there before but had forgotten how unusual the rock formations
are and I just loved it. I got a lump in my throat as we passed the
entrance going into Scofield!!! We had lunch in Price and that reminded
me of the many times we do that on our trips to Lake Powell. We
listened to cd's of Karen Hughes on our trip home and that was
interesting. They have a tv in their van but we couldn't figure out how
to work it.
Jeannie - THANK YOU SO MUCH for your phone
message. Rick has been released from the Bishopric in their ward and
they have been in Sun Valley - that is one of their favorite places to
visit. Releases from church callings are kinda' hard but at the same
time you wouldn't want it any other way - Bro. Packer always says that
church callings are temporary but being a good member of the church, a
good husband and father are permanent callings. I know you all know
that!!!
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