Dearest Family,
HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRACIE THIS
SATURDAY - JULY 9TH!!! Gracie will be one year old and she is a little
doll - it doesn't seem possible that is has been a year since she was
born - time goes SO fast for me.
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY TO EACH ONE OF YOU. I
was SO surprised last night to hear fire works out my upstairs window.
Oakridge country club usually has their celebration on the 4th and it
isn't until tomorrow - I still haven't found out where they came from
last night. Our condo swimming pool has been filled to the brim all
week and there are swimmers over there today which is unusual for this
area. The man who is in charge of the pool is in Fort Collins for a
week and it kinda' worries me because I don't know who is "doing the
chemicals". I swim every morning and just love it but when the children
start to come I get out.
Claire - THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH for
all your help with the picture project. She is "dealing with" a very
paranoid mother-in-law and I admire her understanding and patience. I
had a nightmare one night last week and I worried that all the pictures
had vanished. I don't know if any of you have scanned pictures before
but if you have you know how much time it takes. ANYWAY - she brought
over two DVDs last night that she has been working on and she reassured
me the pictures are safe and sound. I watched the DVDs for over three
hours and I JUST LOVE THEM. Claire has done such a good job with music
to go along with the pictures and I KNOW THAT TAKES ALOT OF TIME. It is
SO fun to see the pictures and remember "those days" and I greatly
appreciate Claire's talents and knowledge in knowing how to do what she
is doing. I remember all the locations and times the pictures were
taken and most of the names of the people in them. The thing I love the
very most is the story that is told about Lynn - his grandchildren and
great grandchildren will become acquainted with him if they watch it -
all 12,000 pictures - Ha!!!
John - THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH for
starting the picture project for me and all the help you have given me
for the last four years. I would never have known how to do it. Many
thanks to Ricky too for all his help in scanning the pictures one entire
Summer - I laughed as I looked at the "missionary pictures" last night
because Ricky had told his Mom they were boring to scan and I'm sure
they were for him but I LOVE THEM.
Are you all tired of hearing about the
picture project????
Guess what John has added to his "animal
farm" - A DONKEY!!!! He had a party at his home last weekend for some
of his co-workers and their families - he said there were about 20
children. He said they loved riding his horses and his donkey and he
loved having the party. He had the bar-b-cue catered from a company in
Salt Lake and he said the chicken and ribs were delicious. After their
dinner and activities they went to Lehi for the rodeo. Do you all
remember when we went to that rodeo as a family - John says he remembers
how cold it was. The man who leases our property in Lehi was in charge
of it - Stan Lewis. Morris Clark used to have that job but he passed
away last year.
John also has another kitten - SO now he has
his dog, Tar, two horses (he told me their names but I have forgotten
them), a donkey and two kittens. He said he may have to get rid of his
donkey because it brays too loud. It is SO interesting to hear from
John about all the care they need. He has a vet come to his home to
"file down the teeth of his horses" - they become uneven in their
chewing - OH ME!!!! My favorite of all his animals is Tar - what a
sweet and smart dog!!! Shall we call John, Dr. Doolittle?????? I wish
he had gone to vet school.
Annie - thank you for your response about
Barbara Andrew's death. Barbara has had congestive heart failure for
many years and Chris Jordin has kept up with me about her illness and I
guess she was in very bad shape. Chris called me on Monday telling me
she went to her home every day to check up on her. Stan is still
working and when Chris went there on Friday, she found her on the floor
where she had fallen and died from a heart attack. It is truly a
blessing. David, Tommy & Mickey all live in Little Rock and Rose Mary
lives in the East someplace. Barb has had a difficult life - she worked
at J.C. Penneys in Little Rock for many years and had many friends
there. Chris will really miss her - they have been close friends for
over 45 years. By the way - I have pictures of Barb with her Mother and
Sister when they visited us in Lehi one Summer.
The landscape in Utah County has surely
changed this past week. All the big buildings around the Geneva Steel
Mill in Orem were blasted down with explosives. It was kinda' sad to
see pictures of this on television even though we constantly complained
about the polution it caused there. They report that it will take at
least a year to clean up all the debris and several years to get it
ready for business and residential use. It is in a very beautiful area
and will make a great improvement for all of Utah County BUT the people
there have relied on it for their financial support since World War 11.
I went to a County D.U.P. meeting on
Thursday night. It was held at the museum in Farmington and I didn't
even know it existed. It is going to be interesting to work in the
County part of D.U.P. I'm not sure I am going to want to spend as much
time as it will take but I will learn alot about genealogy and I guess
that's important. I feel guilty in working for the people of Davis
County instead of my own family in Box Elder County.
I had a BAD, VERY BAD DAY on Friday. Do you
remember my missionary companion, Vicky Burton? She was the one who was
SO cute and got all the attention and yet she wasn't too savvy
about teaching English. Well - she got married on Friday and I have had
the invitation for quite a long time. Somewhere in my mind I thought it
was on Saturday!!! Virginia had called me to make arrangments to meet
her at the Arby's fast food place close to my condo to go to Providence
for the wedding. I just "DID MY THING" Friday morning and had just
shampooed my hair when the phone rang and it was Virginia wanting to
know why I wasn't at Arbys to meet her. I couldn't believe it - surely
I'm not getting old and getting things mixed up!!! I told her to go on
and I would meet her in Providence and that way she wouldn't miss the
wedding and I would get there in time for the reception. I hurried
"like mad" and had to make the decision about fixing my hair and missing
the reception or just going with it right after shampooing it - I
decided to just go with it curly and not fixed - I LOOKED TERRIBLE!!!!
The wedding was in a park in Providence and
the invitation said to dress in picnic clothes. Vicky has six children
and many grandchildren and she wanted all of them to be able to witness
the ceremony and they couldn't do that at the temple. The ceremony was
at 1 o'clock and I got there about 1:25. Just as I was arriving,
Virginia and Helen Kramm (another missionary companion) arrived. They
had stayed on Highway 89 and had a hard time getting on I-15 and then
they went to Logan instead of Providence and they were VERY late and
VERY angry. I felt just terrible but there wasn't anything I could do
about it. That is the second time I have fouled Virginia up in having
her try to pick me up to take me to missionary get-togethers - I'm not
going to have that happen any more.
I had the most interesting report from
"Peter Murray" who is the man in Australia responsible for the Memorial
for my brother Bob's airplane crash 62 years ago. He sent me two
letters he has received from other crew men in the same squadron that
Bob was assigned to - the 345th squadron. One of these letters
explained how it happened that Bob was on the plane. This man was
supposed to be the flight officer and for some reason he couldn't go so
they assigned Bob to take his place. In the letter he said he didn't
know flight officer Robert Forrest very well because he had just come
into their squadron - I remember SO well that my Mother felt sad because
she didn't think Bob had been in Australia long enough to get the
experience he needed. Anyway these letters bring back SO many memories
and clear things up that I have thought about all these years.
Jeannie, Rick & Sarah came over before I
finished my letter so I am finishing it now. It was fun to visit with
them and get caught up with their family - Mary Ann & David are in Heber
at the Parker Summer Home for the Fourth, Barji & Boyd are in Eden with
their family at the Summerhays Summer Home, Ricky is in Provo and Sarah
is home. Sarah went to the Stadium of Fire July Fourth Program last
night with Danny Summerhays - they are JUST friends!!! I laughed as
they told about Sadie (their dog) - she is getting too old and everyone
is sad except Jeannie - AND I CAN RELATE TO THAT. Mary Ann & David are
not going to Lake Powell - they decided it would be too risky at this
time of Mary Ann's pregnancy. Boyd is going to be able to be with us -
he was worried he wouldn't be able to make it - they are leaving Gracie
with one of her Aunts.
Bob & Claire came over while the Weinerts
were still here. My white gate needed some repair - I couldn't close it
so I was keeping it closed when it was windy with a bungee cord. BOB
FIXED IT and I appreciate that SO much. Claire taught me some things I
needed to know about the picture project and we had a good visit.
Michael, Staci, Laura & Katie are coming to Lake Powell and they are all
coming at different times - Ha!!!!
Brett- we will miss you at Lake Powell but
you are doing exactly the right things you should be doing at this time
in your life. You can't see that now but you will be VERY thankful when
you get older. It would be easier for you if you weren't SO smart and
the language didn't come so easy for you - it must be difficult to be
bored. I CANNOT relate to that - I would have to work every
single minute of the day to even keep up. We all love you very much and
we are VERY, VERY proud of you SO keep up the good work!!!
Jeannie told me that she has received
e-mails from Patrice and she thinks they may have already started their
vacation so they can take their time and visit places along the way to
Lake Powell. I'm excited about Lake Powell - I just hope I am not a
nuisance. I will go with Bob & Claire on Thursday and come back with
the Weinerts on Saturday.
PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL IN
EVERYTHING YOU DO. I LOVE EACH ONE OF YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH. Grandma
B XXXXXOOOOO