Dear Kids,
      Boy, summer is really winding down. You can feel that fall is in the air. We’ve had a couple of good rainstorms. It gets dark earlier. And it isn’t so hot! Pretty soon I’ll be griping that it’s too cold.
      The fun is winding down, too. But it’s been great while it lasted. I really enjoyed the birthday party for me last Sunday. 28 people for Sunday dinner, 16 of them children. What a blast! Thanks for all the wonderful presents and cards! You kids are all so thoughtful!
      The family reunion at Riverwoods park yesterday was a blast, too. I think there were about 100 people there, 95 of them children. (Just kidding!) I had a lot of fun on the water slide, but my levis never did dry out. I loved the water-balloon catapult that Charles and Julie Allen brought. It was fun to see all the neices and nephews and their kids, all of whom are lots older than I thought. Steven Allen was dropped off at the park by some friends, and they’d asked him, “So do you have a lot of family here in Utah?” He said, “No, not really.” When they saw the gang at the park they were amazed. Grandpa and Grandma Allen just sat there in their lawn chairs enjoying it all. I brought a picture of a cabin bird for Grandma, the yellow bird she and her sisters were watching last June, when they had their retreat. The bird and its mate raised a batch of baby birds at the top of the utility pole, so we saw a lot of them. Tom took a picture of the female with a telephoto lens, and I made a copy for grandma. She was delighted! (I never realized Grandma was such an avid bird watcher, until this year.) It wasn’t a meadowlark, like she thought. When we went to their house later, she looked it up in her bird book, and found out it was a Western Kingbird. Grandma thinks Tom should become a nature photographer. Tom says people are always giving him suggestions of what he should get into.
      Sharon had a great adventure on Thursday. She was on her way to the cabin in our Windstar, driving up Parleys Canyon, when the car died! Her cell phone was almost ready to die, also, but she called me in a panic. (Wouldn’t you panic with semis whizzing by, two small children in a stalled car, in the noonday heat?) I called a towtruck, and I called the cabin to see if Kim could go rescue them (Yay, Kim! Thanks so much!) and I called the Highway Patrol to see if someone could keep an eye on Sharon until help came. They did! (Yay, Highway Patrol! Our tax dollars at work!) It all turned out fine. Kim rescued Sharon and the boys, and they were even able to make a stop at the outlet stores on their way back to the cabin. The towtruck brought the Windstar home to us, and Dad fixed it that night. (Bad alternator.) Life can be so adventurous!
      Lots of Love, Mom