Dearest Family,
CONGRATULATIONS TO KATIE - she was chosen as
a cheerleader again for her senior year at Davis. She has done such a
good job this year and it has been fun for their entire family so I'm
happy for all of them. Davis is such a HUGE school and the competition
for cheerleading is tough - I'M PROUD OF YOU KATIE!!!
This is such a BEAUTIFUL time of year - just
about EVERYWHERE!!! Our Sunday School lesson this morning was about
gifts and the teacher cleverly told about the flowers and trees that are
in bloom right now as being special gifts. We have had SO much rain
that things are blooming this year that haven't bloomed for a LONG time
and I have tulips in every color and shape. John told me the other day
that he had some of those "yellow flowers" in his yard -
daffodils!!! He spent last weekend checking his sprinkling system,
fertilizing his lawn and watering and THEN it rained and it rained and
it rained - Ha!!! John spent hours and hours on our yard in Orem and he
enjoys yard work and has a beautiful yard at his home in Highland - like
his Dad. Jeannie has beautiful pansies in her front yard now. I worked
out in my little back yard on Friday afternoon and I could hardly move
on Saturday - Ha!!! My apple tree is in full bloom and the lilacs are
coming out too.
I enjoyed having Rick & Jean come over for a
visit last Sunday and after they left, Mary Ann & David came by and THEN
Bob came - a FUN evening!!! Claire & Katie left on Monday to go to
California - I'm sure they have had a good time visiting Claire's
brother and his family and I'm also sure they have had better weather
than we have had in Utah. Mary Ann & David are like a "breath of fresh
air" - SO young and vivacious and full of ambition!!!
I go to the "Empty Nester's" meetings on
Monday night once a month - it is for all the adults whose children have
left home. They had announced that Garry Flake was going to be the
speaker and I knew that Bob had wanted to meet him. He is Director of
Humanitarian Services for the church and he has spent more time helping
the Sunami (sp.?) victims in the foreign countries since December than
he has anyplace else. I was SO thrilled to have Bob come for our
meeting - my ward friends told me today at church how much they enjoyed
meeting him and of course I am SO proud of all of you!!! A couple in
our ward served in Guatemala (he was Mission President) during the years
of 1981-1984 and they knew the places where you all go to serve and they
LOVED talking to Bob. I said the only place I could remember was "La
Tinta" and they said that was in their mission - A SMALL WORLD!!! Bob
went to California on Wednesday to be with Claire & Katie.
Would you believe I am helping on the
committee for my 62nd high school reunion??? I have lived out of the
state for all my reunions so I told them to give me a HARD job since I
haven't helped with any of the others. I went to Willard on Monday
morning to meet with the rest of the committee at Helen Jane's home and
they asked me to make and send out all the invitations - 128 of them. I
went back to Willard on Tuesday morning to get the mailing list!!!
Ellen Mae isn't going to be here for the reunion - she and Mel are going
on some kind of a trip but she wanted to help me. Ellen Mae & I went
shopping for decorations for the invitations on Wednesday afternoon and
most of the day on Thursday. We spent Friday "creating" the invitations
with stickers, etc. and we put them in the mail that afternoon. We
think they are "cute" but I haven't heard from anyone who may have
received them so maybe they're not as cute as we think they are - Ha!!!
It isn't going to be until September 8th but they wanted them mailed
early so our former classmates could schedule them on their calendars.
It will be interesting to see how successful it is. We'll send out
"reminders' sometime in August.
I learned more about Idaho last week than I
wanted to know - Ha!!! I had to give the lesson in our Daughters of the
Utah Pioneers meeting on Wednesday and it was on Idaho. The teacher
always learns more than her students and that was surely true in my
case. It was inspirational to read how men, women and their children
went to Idaho to settle a Mission for the church in 1855 - they were
sent by Brigham Young as missionaries to the Bannock and Shoshone Indian
tribes. They worked SO hard to establish a mission school and build
forts and raise gardens and then the Indians turned against them and
killed so many that they had to go back to Utah. Bob helped me find
some information on the internet about the Johnston Army. The U.S.
Government had sent that army to Utah to try to solve the polygamy
problem and when the Indians learned they were in Wyoming it gave them
courage to push the L.D.S. settlers out of the area in Idaho. It kinda'
reminded me of the time we spent in Montana trying to help the Indians -
most of them didn't want to change their "ways". I also learned alot
about Rexburg and Ricks' College and how it went through difficult times
before it finally became a four year college now known as BYU-Idaho.
I have been thinking about Michael and Staci
as they finish up their college classes in preparation for their
graduation. I know studying for their final exams has taken up most of
their time and they will be relieved to be "through" for awhile. I
haven't heard if they plan to go for advanced degrees - I know they were
considering that at one time. I'm proud of all they
have accomplished!!!
I don't have any more news. I LOVE EACH ONE
OF YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH. PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL IN
EVERYTHING YOU DO.
Grandma B XXXXXOOOOO