Dear Kids,
          The world is absolutely beautiful this morning. Dad and I just drove the whole length of the valley to the stake center. Pine trees, blue sky, green hills . . . I can’t imagine living anywhere but here.
          There’s an early-morning priesthood meeting for the guys, so I’m hanging out in the Relief Society room till it’s over. Then we’ll drive over to our church for our block. It isn’t like West Valley, where it was a 3-minute walk to the church and a 5-minute walk to the stake center. We have to plan our Sunday transportation now. I have more empathy for Sharon and Seth, and their Sunday trips to church.
          At the cabin, summer has brought new wildlife. Oreo killed a rat and left it for me in the greenhouse, by the computer table. He sat on the ledge above it, waiting for me. When I saw it I shrieked, without even thinking. He was pleased. We’ve had a skunk in the greenhouse, and a raccoon. Our moose keeps watch in the front yard. Most people are probably used to it by now, but a few days ago, a car stopped on the road, and the passenger window went down. A white dog stuck his head out the window and stared at the moose, maybe for a minute. Then he pulled his head in, the window went up, and the car drove on. At least the dog was on the passenger side, so I’m pretty sure he wasn’t driving.
          Dad and I are starting a chess club in Heber, at the senior center. (There’s a chess club for kids in the Library, but it only runs six weeks or so, in the summer.) We’re planning to do this for the long haul. We’ll be there on Thursday afternoons, so if you kids in Heber Valley need us to do anything for you on Thursdays, let us know. The best part of the senior center is lunch, because they have a real kitchen (no food service deliveries) and the cooks are the former owners of the Wagon Wheel café. Each meal is a masterpiece. I definitely won’t be bringing my own lunch, like I do at the Harman Center.
          Our new house is moving along, but it’s been a nightmare. Every evening when the workmen go home, Dad and I walk through it, and we nearly always find something that’s wrong. I call the supervisor, he makes excuses, and then agrees to meet us there early the next morning. We show him the problem, and he finally agrees to have it fixed. So far there have been problems with the outside grading, the framing (twice), the heat ducts, and the wiring. The electrician is being called back for the third time. I write notes on the floor and the wall studs. He obviously can’t read. Now I try to anticipate what the subcontractors will do wrong, but you can’t figure these guys out. Every day is a new adventure.
          Meanwhile, life is good. We love you all! Mom