Dear Kids,
      It was fun seeing so many of you at Allen and Missy’s last weekend, and at Vanessa and Trent’s in Pocatello. Grandma and Grandpa said that when you added together both parties, they pretty much saw our whole family. (Except, of course, for the Michigan Thackers and the Tucson Prendergasts and Paul) All the food was great and the kids had fun playing together. I wondered if Grandma and Grandpa could hold out for two solid days of visiting with our family, but they did great. They were OK on the road, too. It was sort of a trial run to see if we can take them to Canada next month. Grandma says she’s still thinking it over.
      I visited them today in Orem, and they’re settling back into their house. But I saw an unwelcome sight on their kitchen counter–a brochure that said “Welcome to Comcast,” or something like that. I nearly screamed. Comcast!!?? They had Comcast before they moved to the Seville, and every month they were overcharged, and Bonnie went through h*** to get them disconnected. I thought we all hated Comcast! But Bonnie said there was no other cable company they could get. They had been connected for a week, but they weren’t getting a signal. A lady on the phone was trying to talk me through their setup, and when she told me to disconnect the box, I did it gladly. And I told her that I was bringing it back to them. And I convinced Grandma that they don’t need cable. (Grandma and Grandpa have had cable for so long, they thought they would still need to pay something to get Channels 2, 4, and 5. I reminded them that this is America, and those channels are free)
      Then I visited the Comcast office to give them back their box. Of course they gave me a song and dance about Grandma and Grandpa being responsible for the installation and a week of service. I reminded them that they had a history of ripping off elderly people. (I was shooting in the dark, but it hit.) So they cancelled all the charges and disconnected the service. Meanwhile, Grandma’s TV is still getting all the cable channels. Odd.
      I’ve been e-mailing Brad King about setting up our family scholarship, and talking to some of you about whether you want to pay twice a year, or just once. I think everybody agreed on just one payment. The total, for tuition and fees for a year, is $2233.22. That seems like a real bargain. They need to have the money by May 1st to award the scholarship, so those of you who want to contribute, why don’t you send your checks to us by April 21st. Make them payable to CEU. Then, your cancelled check (or the online image, whatever) can be your receipt for taxes. It’s a charitable donation, like tithing. You can itemize it. Dad and I will pay the balance. I wouldn’t even mind paying it all, I’m so grateful to CEU for giving so many of you such a good start in life.
      I’m looking forward to the party this weekend at the cabin, where we’re supposedly going to watch conference. Well, we all know we can watch the reruns and read the talks in the Ensign. It’s all good.
      Love, Mom