Dearest Family,
It seems SO strange to be writing my letter
at this time. My church times have changed and I go at 8:30 in the
morning so I am home by noon. I much prefer the 12:30 time but we have
three wards meeting in our church building so we have to take turns with
the good times and I will have the 8:30 a.m. time for a year - UGH!!!
HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR - I hope this next
year will be a VERY happy one for each one of us!!! There are SO many
things going on in my childrens' lives that I can't keep up with
everything. I remember the times when my grandchildren were all in
elementary or even pre-schools and now you're getting married, having
children of your own and that's exactly what you're supposed to be doing
and I AM PROUD OF YOU!!!
I had such a HAPPY BIRTHDAY - THANK YOU ALL
FOR YOUR PHONE CALLS, ETC. I celebrated with Brett and that was SO
special and I won't soon forget it. Claire fixed a delicious dinner
with a birthday cake and all the trimmings - Jeannie & Rick came to
their home for a little while and that was fun too. I can't help but
feel a little sad that Brett will be celebrating his next two birthdays
some place on his mission - that's where we want him to be though.
Emily and Brett, THANK YOU FOR YOUR
LETTERS!!! I LOVE them and I remember how hard it was to take time to
write them when I was your ages. I don't expect any of you to write
letters - your lives are much too busy and that's the way I want it.
You will all start back to school this week and that will be good for
you.
I got my pictures back from our Christmas
Eve party - I didn't take very many. I have a great one of Jimmy &
Brett with Santa Clause while they are decorating their gingerbread
houses - we will miss both of them next year. Sarah & her friend, Greg,
are also in that picture. I wish I had taken MANY more. I have decided
to ask each one of you to send me pictures you want included in our
"picture project" - I'll scan them and then give them back to you. I
still think I take the best pictures BUT I get too nervous when you
don't want me to take them. All the pictures I took in China are the
very best ones taken and my friends have all asked for copies. I just
love the camera Claire sent to me while I was in Thailand and even
though I shake they turn out - Ha!!!
I keep thinking of Jessie & Jared - WHAT A
WONDERFUL COUPLE!!! We had a family bridal shower for Jessie at the
Weinert's home on Thursday and it just couldn't have been nicer. Annie
had a quilt already for us to "tie" and it turned out beautiful. I want
to record who was there because I thought it was VERY, VERY nice for all
Jessie's cousins and sisters to support her; Laura, Katie, Staci, Barji,
Mary Ann, Sarah, Susanna and Lee Anna. Jeannie had made a delicious
dinner - Claire brought veggies and dips and I took a pistachio pudding
salad. There was alot of the salad left (as usual) so I took it to my
90 year old friend who lives in a trailer park close to my condo - she
has "meals on wheels" but she doesn't like the food. I know I will like
EVERYTHING when I get to that point - Ha!!! I just love food.
Jessie had many photos that had been taken
for them to select for their wedding announcements - she wanted some
help in choosing the right one. I don't believe I have ever seen SO
MANY good pictures - they could choose any one of them and be happy!!!
It was fun to be with Jared's Mom, Jennifer Richards. She is more like
one of my granddaughters than a mother of the groom - SO YOUNG AND
PRETTY!!! Jessie told us that Jennifer's Father will do the temple
sealing for them and that is just WONDERFUL. Jennifer's mother passed
away about 8 years ago and she has four sisters who live in the Dallas
area. I always ask too many questions.
I'm looking forward to having Roy, Timothy
& Jesse with me next week. They are coming to go snowboarding and I'm
glad we have LOTS of snow in the mountains. We don't have very much in
the valleys but they are predicting more in the next few days. I LOVE
HAVING THEM WITH ME. We are planning to get together on Saturday night
- John has invited all of us to his home for "SANDWICHES AND SOUP". Roy
insists that we don't make a big deal of their visit so don't worry
about it if you can't come!!! He thinks I impose on you to come and I
don't mean to do that. Besides that - it was John's idea - Ha!!!! He
has been super busy this past week with a "barn project" - he ordered
many tons of sand to be put in his barn but he thought his lawn would be
frozen hard and instead it was soft with all the rain we have had. The
truck with the sand got stuck in his lawn and he said it made a mess -
it will come back next Summer though.
I went to a funeral on Tuesday for a member
of my D.U.P. camp - she was 87 years old and had been suffering with
osteoporosis for many years so it was a blessing. The last time I went
to see her, she was confined to a lounge chair and said she had broken
some ribs when she bent over to pick up a newspaper. Her name was
Eileen Christensen and she had truly served throughout her life - was on
the Primary General Board and wrote many Primary manuals, served with
her husband who was a Mission President along with being International
President of D.U.P. I hope each one of the women in my family will
take LOTS of calcium - you are all too thin to suit me!!!!
The terrible tragedy in Southeast Asia is
absolutely unbelievable - I know all of you have seen the pictures of
the damage done by the Tsunami. That is an earthquake that occurs in
the ocean and produces massive tidal waves that just swallowed up
people, buildings, homes, etc., etc. I received several phone calls
from friends in Thailand and they say, "Bawbwa, Sad" - they can't talk
very long and that's good because it's difficult with the language
barrier. I try to tell them that America will help. My badge said
"Barbara Mellor - Latter Day Saint Charities" while I was there and they
ask if the Charities will help them. I think of all the times we spend
making hygiene kits in our enrichments meetings and then I see the
people running to airplanes to catch the relief boxes sent to them and I
have to wonder if some of the kits are in those boxes. The Relief
Societies will be very inspired to get back to work making things that
will help people in these situations. Those of you who went to Thailand
may remember my friend, Lek - her family lives on the coast of Thailand
but she wrote and said they were safe. I guess it is a good thing I
didn't learn the Thai language or I would want to go see if I could
help. They don't want people there who can't REALLY help!!! I can't
even imagine that almost 150,000 people have been killed. A young
woman from Salt Lake who was vacationing with her Father and brother in
Phuket, Thailand hasn't been found and her Father doesn't want to leave
the Island.
Did you all watch the University of Utah
game last night? My friend, Bobbye Dennis, called me from Little Rock
and said she was watching it and hoped Utah would win. I am thrilled
they won - I wouldn't like to be the coach who follows Urban Meyer - he
has had GREAT success. 35 - 7 was a good score for Utah.
I will be thinking about Susanna, Steve,
Jackson & Caroline as they travel back to Arizona today - the weather
has been rainy but it's supposed to be better today. It was just
WONDERFUL to have them with us. I will also be thinking about Boyd &
Barji as they leave with the Summerhays' family to go to Hawaii for next
week - I hope to be able to help Jeannie as she cares for Preston &
Gracie. I'm SO glad they live in Farmington.
That's all the news - I think!!!! PLEASE BE
SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO. I LOVE EACH ONE OF YOU SO
VERY, VERY MUCH. GRANDMA B XXXXXOOOOO