Dear Kids,
          We’ve had a ton of rain here! The ground is sinking in places around our house where it wasn’t tamped down well enough. You’d have thought it would have happened last winter, but I guess we didn’t have enough snow. I didn’t even figure that the ground hadn’t settled yet when we built the window wells. Unfortunately, one of them is now tipping away from the house. If it gets any worse, we’ll probably have to tear it out and build another one there. Dad says he’s willing to do the demolition. Needless to say, I’m very discouraged.
          Otherwise, things are going very well here. We had our chess club retreat Friday night at the cabin, and people came from three different senior chess clubs. (Sandy, West Valley, and Heber) We had a double elimination tournament, which worked out really well because we had exactly eight people playing. Originally we were short one person, because a lady with back trouble wasn’t able to come, but I talked Donna and Bevan into coming, and Bevan made up the extra person. It was fun having Dallin and Anna running around, and they entertained us all. Besides that, there was good food and lots of good chess. I tied for second place. The man who won is no way the best player among us, but that’s how things worked out. Nobody really cared. We were all having fun, which doesn’t always happen during our weekly chess club get-togethers.
          Charles and Julie Allen were camping nearby Friday night, up the canyon from Oakley. They were in a tent, and the rain absolutely pounded it, but they stayed dry. Yesterday afternoon, on their way home, they stopped to visit us at our house. Their kids played with little people in the play room, while we talked. They’ve just barely gotten into camping, and they were wondering about the best places to go. Maybe some of you can give them suggestions. Where can you just walk in, without making a reservation? Their phone number is 801 319 8271.
          I’ll be fixing Sunday dinner in two weeks, on September 7th. We’ll probably eat around 4:30. Let me know if you can come. Any requests for the menu? There are lots of things I haven’t fixed in so long, I’ve probably forgotten about them. Dave Michelson used to come if I was making meat loaf. That was so long ago! Do I even know how to make meat loaf any more?
          Life is good! I love you all! Mom