Dear Kids,
      Ah, life at the cabin! I just realized it’s Saturday morning, and I still haven’t written my letter for the week. Our Ward’s youth conference is going on here, but it’s early morning and the kids are still asleep. Out in the greenhouse, Oreo the cat is curled up next to one of the girls. He's had the time of his life this week, with Tom’s kids and Nora’s kids, and now the young people of our ward. He’s been carried around and pampered, and he’s had two evenings of barbecued chicken. He won’t want to go home, to the competition of the other cats.
      I’m fixing Sunday dinner tomorrow, the 13th. Let me know if you’re coming.
      Sam McGettigan has a poem in the current issue of the “Friend.” Here it is, in case you don’t take the Friend:
      You should always pay your tithing,
      One-tenth of what you've earned.
      Pay your tithing before you go buying,
      And that is what I've learned.
Jana says he can write a poem in about 10 minutes. He just whips them out.
      Paul is still going great guns in Fayetteville. He did 20 installs in a week, with 5 in one day. He worked at one house where there were about 40 cats and 10 dogs. (And they need an alarm system?) I told him that John has given us ADT stickers for our windows, and he says he’ll give us an Apex sign for our yard. All that, plus three guard cats, should keep us from ever getting broken into.
      I’m getting excited for the family reunion in Lava Hot Springs, two weeks from Monday. I’ll call each of you in the next week or so and work out food assignments. And don’t forget your 3 trivia questions and one charade. If you need ideas, look in the green book.
      Also, don’t forget the Allen family reunion on August 9th at Riverwoods park. It will be fun to see who comes.
      Lots of love, Mom