Dear Kids,
      What beautiful fall weather we’re having! Yesterday I rode my bike to Valley Fair Mall to return some stuff to Penneys, and there couldn’t have been a better day! We ought to have glorious weather for conference weekend! John is talking about bringing his chocolate fountain for Sunday afternoon. I’m looking forward to seeing so many of you.
      Dad and I have been trying to finish the log siding on the cabin, but the mill in Heber hasn’t had any logs for us. I just called them this morning, though, and the guy said he’s making some today. So with a little luck, we can pick them up tomorrow afternoon. That doesn’t mean that we’ll be working during conference, though. We’ll save most of it for the following Tuesday. Dad’s on vacation all next week, so I have plans for him. Originally, we were going to take Grandma and Grandpa Allen on a trip to southern Utah, but that won’t work out now. They both aren’t doing very well physically. Grandpa has had a couple of strokes, and according to Katie, he’s even stopped driving. (That’ll be the day.) Grandma is still on oxygen, which will probably be permanent. Sunday night, we had Grandpa’s birthday party at their house, instead of the cabin. But it was still fun.
      Missy has a blog! She just sent us an e-mail about it, and I checked it out! You can read all about their trip to a circus parade, and Carson’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” birthday party. There’s a slideshow, too. The address is: www.justthe4ofus-missy.blogspot.com. Amber has a blog there, too, but she hasn’t added anything recently. I wish all of you had blogs! It would be so easy to keep up with each others’ news!
      There’s a tiny lizard that’s moved into the cabin greenhouse. He runs around among the tomato plants. He’s only a couple of inches long, or maybe less. I don’t know where he came from. Other wildlife news: There were a couple of very stupid mice who built their nest right in the mouse bait box. I guess they thought it was a great place–lots of food, and lots of protection. Well, they both died. One of them was a couple of feet away from the box, and the other was inside, next to the bait, on his back, with his feet sticking up in the air. At least they didn’t have time to produce any babies!
      Tom said he was driving down the main street of Heber, by Day’s Market, and he saw a glider overhead, banking perfectly, leveling out perfectly, in a straight line. Later he called John, and sure enough–that was him up there! He has to do everything just right. He said he had to give up wearing his Doc Marten shoes in the glider, because they were so heavy, he didn’t have any control on the pedals. So now he wears lighter shoes. And speaking of weight, if John can get down to 210, there’s a new glider he can fly. Go, John. I’ve just been reading the book Seabiscuit (recommended by Paul) that tells how the jockeys used to loose weight. Some of them swallowed tapeworms! When they got too sick to ride the horses, they went to the hospital and got themselves cured. Just an idea, John!
      Sharon reports that Seth is the new financial clerk of their ward. Hopefully tithing settlement won’t be a problem, since they’re flying here December 14th. Maybe he can get it all wrapped up before that.
      Gotta go! I love you all! Mom