Dearest Family,
Today is Rick's brithday and they are on
their Alaskan cruise with their neighborhood friends - they left from
Seattle yesterday. I know they will have a GREAT time. Jeannie said
they were ready to get away for a little while. They had a good time in
Boston and took time to go to Joseph Smith's birthplace in Sharon,
Vermont. They were with some friends from Fruit Heights on this trip -
he is a cardiologist and is a "church history buff" who told them alot
about this place. I have heard the church really puts up a display of
Christmas lights at his birthplace each year - and since this year
December 23rd is his 200th birthday it will probably be very elaborate
and would be fun to see.
Jeannie and Rick took me to Salt Lake on
Thursday to attend the wedding reception for David's sister Shara and
her husband Nick. I don't believe I have ever attended a more beautiful
reception and it was SO fun to see all of David's family again. The
reception was in the home gardens of a family friend of the Parkers and
tables were arranged around the swimming pool which had sprays of water
going into it. All of David's brothers and sisters and their spouses
were there as well as his parents and grand
parents - it really was just WONDERFUL.
Mary Ann looked BEAUTIFUL - the bride's colors were pink and black. All
of David's sisters and sisters-in-law had gone to have pedicures so they
could wear cute black sandals - Ha!!! They were married that day in the
Salt Lake temple so it had been a long day for them but Mary Ann didn't
seem tired. David has a VERY special family and they all love Mary Ann.
David and Mary Ann were the speakers in
their ward last Sunday and they invited Sarah and Mary Ann to play a
violin duet. Danny Flint went with Sarah and he said it was REALLY
good. Jeannie & Rick were in Boston so they couldn't go.
JESSIE - thank you SO much for your visit
yesterday. I had just come home from the temple when she surprised me
as I was fixing some lunch - I am starving when I come home!!! She had
been to a shower for one of her friends in Kaysville and stopped to say
hello on her way home and I LOVED IT. While she was here one of my
neighbors came over to apologize for breaking off one of my BEAUTIFUL
dahlias while he was taking pictures of them. He gave her one of the
pictures to take to show Annie. They have been such a joy for me all
Summer and even though they are not as pretty as they have been they are
still pretty. Jessie looked absolutely darling and when I went to take
her picture my camera was out of battery - I found one in my drawer
after she left but I hadn't remember I had one. She and Jared are doing
just GREAT - she was on her way to pick him up from school since they
only have one car now.
I like to see POOR struggling college
students - that's the way it is supposed to be isn't it???????
SUSANNA - I just love the pictures you have
sent to me. It makes me sad when I think I don't get to see Caroline
and Jackson grow up so it is WONDERFUL to have their pictures. I also
love the pictures of the hurricane, Katrina - the sky is so scary before
it actually hits that I would leave in a hurry if I could. Susanna sent
pictures of their camping trip in Arizona - there are some beautiful
places to camp in Arizona and get away from the heat. Jeannie reports
on Preston and Gracie and she says Gracie is "mass destruction" in their
home - Ha!!!! Jackson, Caroline, Preston & Gracie are at VERY difficult
ages and I'm SO proud they have such good parents to guide them - these
stages are hard right now but everything will be well worthwhile in a
few years and they will be such good friends.
BRETT & JIMMY - I thought about you this
morning as I listened to a returned missionary from Brazil as he spoke
with our High Councilman. He said his mission was such a WONDERFUL
experience for him and he missed the people in the area where he served
- I couldn't understand which mission he served in. His name is Dan
Hurst and his father was my Bishop before we changed wards - he has been
home for two months so you wouldn't have known him even if he had been
in your same areas. I hope you and your companions are making things
happy not only for yourselves but for the people you are serving -
THAT'S THE KEY, isn't it?
JOHN - thanks SO much for your phone call
and I was sorry I missed you. John was in San Francisco last week and
that sounds fun to me but business is still business no matter where you
are. I can't help but think about John as I watch the television
coverage of animals that are being rescued in the South from the
hurricane tragedy - I will never forget when Tar was reunited with John
after five years. There haven't been too many reports about horses but
they have rescued many cats and dogs. Margaret is searching for a "dog
heaven" for "Loki" for the times she will gone this year. She found a
place in Layton that sounds like the "Hilton" to me and I simply cannot
relate to that - she knows I won't start taking care of Loki even though
she would love for me to do that. Loki is a darling basset hound.
BOB & CLAIRE - I am loving the refrigerator
you picked out for me and helped to install it. I appreciate your visit
last Sunday Bob - they have firesides in their ward on Sunday evenings
and it is hard for him to get away BUT he always comes. Claire has done
SO MUCH WORK on the family picture project and I love to watch it and
will enjoy it for the rest of my life - John was inspired to start that.
I'm excited for Lee Anna's bridal luncheon.
Chris' (her fiance') mother is coming from California and that will make
it SO special and it will also be fun to meet his sister Mandy. I know
they are MIGHTY busy with their wedding plans. I asked Jessie yesterday
how the apartment in the Woolley's basement is coming and she said it is
going to be SO nice!!! That will be such a WONDERFUL addition to their
home - a GREAT thing for their family and shows alot of vision in their
original plans for their home.
I keep thinking about Emily and how much I
miss her and wish she could be with us for the luncheons and other
wedding things. THEN I remember how our family missed those things when
we lived in Little Rock and the rest of my family and Lynn's family
lived in Utah. There are SO many WONDERFUL things going on in Emily's
life in Little Rock that are just as important and good as the things
going on here in Utah - it's just that I'm in Utah and close to these
things. I will always LOVE Little Rock and I still miss the things we
were involved in there and I know the Roys are involved in. I think
about Susanna too and how she will miss some of the wedding things -
THAT'S JUST LIFE and we don't worry about it and enjoy the things that
are in our OWN BACKYARD!!!!
I am going to have my D.U.P. meeting here
next Wednesday so I decided to get my deck pretty. I bought a sprayer
to stain it - I have always brushed it on but Helen Jane has a deck and
she talked me into getting a sprayer to do a better and easier job. I
wish you could have seen me - I had stain all over my face and in my
hair and shoes and clothing. I could only do part of the deck because
the sprinklers are still on and would ruin the West part. I thought
maybe I had assembled the sprayer wrong so I took it back to Home Depot
- they said I had done it right. I think I will do a better job when I
do the next part.
I am going to Colorado Springs next Sunday
with my friends, Ellen Mae & Mel and Helen Jane. We are going for the
BAR J Cowboy Convention that will be held Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
and then we will start for home on Thursday. We may drive it in two
days and if we do we will get home on Friday, the 30th. It will be so
much fun - I have gone to those conventions before and it is so relaxing
with good entertainment. I wish I could give you a phone number to call
in case of an emergency but I can't. I will call either the Bobs or the
Weinerts when we get in our motel in Colorado Springs on Monday night
and tell them where they can reach me if necessary. I won't write my
letter next Sunday.
I LOVE EACH ONE OF YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH.
PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL IN EVERYTHING YOU DO. Grandma B
XXXXXOOOOO