Dear Kids,
          All five of Nora and James’s kids are here at our house right now. Actually, since it’s early morning, they’re just waking up. Last night Nora brought the kids here, and then she and the girls and I went to the General Women’s Meeting at our stake center. When it was over, Nora left straight for home. None of us wanted her to be driving home late. She and James are going to the hospital sometime this morning (maybe right now!) to deliver little baby Mair. (We’ve heard the name McKay Allen Mair mentioned.) Meanwhile, Dad and I will be taking the kids to church. Later, Donna’s bringing dinner. She’ll take the two girls back to her house tonight. We have everything planned out until Tuesday afternoon, when Dad and I will drive the kids back to Centerville and have a look at the new baby. I’m sure he’ll have a familiar face.
          We’ve had a couple of spring-like days here, so Dad and I have been moving ahead with our yard work. We torched our bonfire on Monday, and everything burned except the big cottonwood trunk that was the point of it all. It just lay there and smoldered for a couple of days. A nice old codger from our ward, who came to excavate our window wells, used his backhoe to drag the stump over to the next lot. The guy who was responsible for taking it away is building a house there. (We’ve also found giant chunks of asphalt that he buried in our yard, and those are also going to end up on his property. He was the developer of this whole area, and obviously he took some shortcuts.)  

The nice man from our ward mostly excavated the window wells, but then he broke a hose and had to go repair it. Dad and I started digging out the areas right next to the house, where he couldn’t reach. We pulled out dozens of big rocks to use in our dry creek bed. No wonder everybody here landscapes with river rock!
          The highlight of our week was the trip to Wendover on Thursday. Our bus left Heber in a snowstorm, and by the time we got part way up Highway 40, cars were off the road and the bus was spinning its tires. Imagine Dad as a passenger, sitting near the back. Needless to say, he didn’t do well. Thankfully we got past that area and out of the storm. Most of you have been to Wendover, or through it. The casinos are magnificent, and full of smoke. Of course you have to walk through the smoke to get to the buffet. And then you have to walk through smoke to get to the bathrooms. And back out again. My lungs did as poorly as Dad on the bus in the snowstorm, and I wasn’t even smart enough to bring an inhaler. We walked around town in the cold windy air, and we found the airport. Wendover was an important air field during World War II, and there’s a museum there, along with some broken down barracks. We were out of time by then, and had to go back to the bus, but if we’re ever crazy enough to do the Wendover trip again, we’ll spend most of our time at the museum!
          Hope you’re all doin’ great and lovin’ it! Mom