Dearest Family,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LYNN ON FRIDAY, AUGUST
5TH. He would have been 85 years old and I was SO sure he would live at
least that long - he had 71 plus WONDERFUL years and I'm grateful for
that. He didn't deserve to miss all the weddings, graduations, births,
etc. but he is VERY much aware of them and is VERY proud of each one of
you!!!!
CONGRATULATIONS TO LEE ANNA AND CHRIS - I
was SO happy to come to my computer this morning and learn they became
engaged this last week AT DISNEYLAND.
I have met Chris and he is such a good
looking young man and SO personable and Lee Anna is SO beautiful - they
are a PERFECT match and I'm thrilled for them. I am also VERY happy
they will be married in the Mt. Timpanogas Temple - I haven't been there
since I left in a hurry to get ready to go to Thailand. OCTOBER 14th
will be a special time - that's my favorite time of year!!! Jeannie -
the shower on the 25th is GREAT for me!!!
I was SO thrilled to have a phone call from
Bob a few minutes ago. They are out of town and he apologized for not
being able to come see me tonight. I will miss him and Claire but I
have talked to them several times this week. I was watching the last
video Claire had made when he called - IT IS SO WONDERFUL!!! There
hasn't been a minute to watch it since she brought it over SO I looked
forward to watching it right after church this morning. I am just
amazed at how much of my life the videos cover - John was surely
inspired to get me started on that project and Claire is magical to be
able to convert them to DVDs. I always think about Ricky too because he
did so much of the scanning.
Bob & Claire and Rick & Jeannie came over
last Sunday - sometimes they get here at the same time and we have such
a good time. Rick showed us his hand and how good it has healed - that
cut was in a very important part of his hand and he is SO pleased to
have it healed so well. Many thanks to Bob & Roy.
Roy & Patrice - I think of you each time I
hear about the "Discovery Space Shuttle". I have wondered if you are
able to see any of that with your telescope - probably not. The crew of
Discovery are heroes in my mind - can you imagine what it must be like
for them to know about the danger involved in getting them home safely
after that foam stuff came off during lift off? I will be SO happy when
they are safely back to earth. I can't even imagine how they could
repair any damage done to the shuttle while they are in space. I also
believe they have discovered a new planet - I would normally not be
interested in this but since I saw the sky so clearly while at Lake
Powell all of a sudden I am very interested.
Jessie & Jared - how can I thank you enough
for the FABULOUS pictures and letters you sent from Turkey? I had no
idea there was so much history in Turkey - I'm So dumb about things like
that!!! I think you took advantage of EVERYTHING while you were there
and I'm proud of you and appreciate your sharing it with all of us. I
know you are happy to be back in America and more appreciative of all
our opportunities and our lifestyles.
I watched the 24th of July parade on
television last Monday and I thought it was just GREAT!!! The floats
were spectacular, the weather was good, the marching bands were
plentiful and outstanding and it was especially gratifying to see
President Hinckley in a car waving his cane to everyone. He is SO
amazing. Did I understand the commentators right when they introduced
the new Iraqi Government Officials riding in a special car? I couldn't
believe they would be here but they were definitely not Americans. I
have enjoyed reading about President Hinckley's 95th birthday party in
the Church News. I have wondered if Mike Wallace really understood the
impact he had on everyone. I heard that someone told him he should
investigate the church more and his reply was "I could never join your
church, I'm Jewish". He was a "star" at the birthday party.
Our friends, Chris & Wayne Smith called me
on Monday evening and said they were in Oregon and would be at my home
on Wednesday. I spent Tuesday tidying up my condo and planned to do a
little grocery shopping on Wednesday morning to plan a dinner for them.
WELL - they called on Tuesday about 5 p.m. and said they were in
Tremonton and would be here in about an hour. I REALLY didn't have time
to prepare a good dinner - we had scrambled eggs and rice but they
didn't complain. They are doing just GREAT - Chris looks better than I
have seen her in years and is much healthier. The move ffrom Gulf
Shores has surely agreed with her. They were in their large motor home
and had been to Washington to visit Wayne's sister and to Montana to
visit their grandson Scott and his wife. They are absolutely thrilled
with their new home near Dallas and they had pictures of it and it is
just beautiful. Wayne told me his neighbor came over and offered him
$640,000 for his Gulf Shores home and a promise that Wayne could come
any time he wanted and camp on the property and go fishing. Wayne said
he plans to do just that about 4 months of the year. Their daughter,
Linda, bought a lot next to theirs in Texas and plans to build on it in
a few years. Linda and Ken and their son, Rick and his wife Linda are
about 100 miles from them in Texas and that will be SO much better than
many hours.
I took them to Lehi and Orem - Wayne helped
Lynn put in the bathroom in the Lehi house and he has always loved that
area. I took him around our farm and then we drove to Orem and they
couldn't believe what has happened in the backyard of our former Orem
home - he said over and over, Lynn would be very happy with the care
they are giving it. The next time I go I am going to take my camera so
I can take pictures of it. I also took them to Highland to see John's
home AND HIS DONKEY WAS THERE. Wayne said "I'm SO proud of John for
buying that place" - he just loved it!!!
I came home from the Lehi/Orem trip and then
turned around and went back to Salt Lake for Don & Cheryls' 50th wedding
anniversary party. Their children had the nicest party at their
daughter Pam's home. She has a VERY lovely home with a large backyard
and they had tables set up there and they were decorated just
beautifully with gold EVERYTHING!
Their entire family was there and that is
the first time I have met many of their grandchildren and I hadn't seen
their son Bart for at least 25 years. He lives in California and I had
never met his wife or children. Pam did such a good job in planning the
program - they had gold wedding bells on each table with a number
inside. My number was 23 so you know how many were there. She drew a
number and that person told a memory of Don & Cheryl and then she had
large paper bags tied with gold ribbon that correlated with that number
and these bags had other memories that Pam read. It was very, very
nice.
Don gave Cheryl diamond earrings and she
gave him a new wedding ring (she said she bought it at Wal Marts for $12
- Ha). They had the buffet catered and it was delicious and a beautiful
wedding cake. Their son, Clint had made a video of their lives and it
was also very good. They set up a television on the lawn so everyone
was comfortable to watch it.
I came away from the party convinced that my
son John is more of a Forrest than he is a Mellor - Bert, Clint & Chad
reminded me SO much of the way John is. They are all engineers and have
GREAT jobs and are VERY happy young men. Pam's husband is a CPA and
takes care of Don & Cheryls' affairs. Bart is also a CPA. Their
grandchildren were SO cute and had small parts in giving tributes to
them. Cheryl told me their two granddaughters, Pam and Barts' daughters
have beautiful singing voices but they didn't sing. Bart's daughter
just graduated from BYU and she had a cute boy friend with her. Pam's
daughter is going to Utah State this Fall. They only invited Cheryls'
two sisters and Don's sister. I'm not sure how much Don comprehended
but he enjoyed it - it made me SO sad to see the terrible condition he
is in but Cheryl is VERY good to him and so are his children. Don hangs
onto Cheryl's shoulders and she pulls him along - he can't walk.
I celebrated my 50th wedding anniversary
while I was in Thailand and I bought myself that beautiful emerald ring
- Ha!!! I knew Lynn would approve.
Brett - do you have the new "Preach My
Gospel Book"? I just became aware that it was in print so I bought it
for Jimmy. I remember that some of the things that were available for
missionaries were not available in Montana. You probably have
EVERYTHING - I hope you do have that because it is very good. I'm
excited to hear how you are enjoying being a "real" missionary and out
of the CTM (MTC in Brazil) - I know you will be an excellent
missionary. I'm also excited to hear about your companion - is he
Brazilian?
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