Dear Kids,
          I’m sure most of you have heard the wonderful news that Nora and James are expecting another little Mair. We’re very thrilled for them. I think the baby is due around the first of April. Nora just had her 12-week visit to the doctor, and they heard the baby’s heartbeat,and everything seems to be fine. What could be more exciting!
          Lagoon, maybe? Dad and I spent Friday night at Lagoon with Nora’s and Donna’s families. We haven’t been for many years, but thanks to Allen’s passes, we got in for $11.00 each. (Except for Nora’s family, who got in with their season passes.) I forgot how much fun Lagoon is! And I also forgot how old I am, and that your body doesn’t do scary rides the same when you’re a senior citizen. I was sort of remembering how it was as a teenager, so I took off with Ben and Stu and we did the old white roller coaster, the Colossus, (where I blacked out on the second loop) and the swings, all in a row. Dad was wise and walked around with the grandkids. Oh, he went on the Bat. It was all fun. But I remembered that senior citizens have to have fun differently. Too bad the sky ride and the ferris wheel were closed down!
          Dad and I are still fixing up our new house. We’ve mostly painted over the bad smell and the wrong colors. On Friday, our refrigerator was delivered from RC Willey, and our piano was picked up from Tom’s house and brought to ours. On Saturday, Tom and his family came to visit the piano (oops, I mean they came to visit us) and Kim brought her music and played the piano for a while. I guess it was a sad parting for them. With the piano, I mean. Looks like they’ll have to visit Skip Daynes and see what he can do for them. Once you get used to playing a really good piano, it’s hard to make do with a keyboard, or anything else.
          Don’t forget it’s conference weekend in two weeks. We’d love to have you here on Saturday, to help us move the last of our stuff. If you’re going to be here for Sunday dinner, let me know, OK?
          Life is good! Love, Mom

Dear Kids,
          People keep asking us, "Are you all moved in yet?" and I don’t know what to say. "We’re re-painting a brand new house." "I have to put in closet shelves and rods because I didn’t trust the builders to do it right." "We have to put in a kitty door before we can bring our cats." "We’re really comfy at our cabin and I’m in no hurry." All of the above. So we just say, "We’re getting there." And it’s lots of fun. Dad is doing most of the painting, and the obnoxious smell of the original paint is gradually getting covered up. I’m doing shelves and rods and knobs and blinds. We’ve made three trips to Salt Lake to buy stuff. On our first trip, we bought a TV and a refrigerator and a microwave and a wheelbarrow, and lots of other stuff. We spent $3,000. Our other trips haven’t been so lavish. We’ve gotten all our paint from the West Valley Walmart, because they’re the only ones that can mix it right. (We’ve also tried Heber and Park City and Downtown.) There are a gazillion projects ahead of us, and they’ll all be fun. 
          We’ll be doing conference weekend here at the cabin. Maybe we’ll have a moving party on Saturday (Oct. 5,) and move stuff out of the bunkhouse, so people can sleep there, if they need to. Of course the guys will be going to the priesthood session that evening. I’ll be fixing Sunday dinner the next day, and we’ll eat around 1 pm. Let me know if you’ll be coming, so I’ll be sure to make enough food. Even though Dad and I won’t be living at the cabin forever, we’ll always have conference weekend here. The TV isn’t very big, compared to the new ones out there now, but you don’t have to really look at the speakers. You only have to listen to them. 
          I have to go frost cupcakes. I’m going visiting teaching this afternoon, and I can’t disappoint my ladies.
          Lots of love, Mom

Dear Kids,
          Our only news this week is that we closed on the new house. The garage doors never were replaced, but Fieldstone Homes put $2,000 in escrow so that if they don’t do it in 60 days, we get the money. And if you think the escrow agreement might not be airtight, well, I wrote it. At the closing. The one they put in front of us didn’t exactly say what the problem was, or how we would get the money, so they let me re-do it to our liking. After that, it was just a few papers to sign, and a trip to the bank. I could hardly believe that after all those months of anguish, the deal was done. 
          All that happened Friday morning. Since then, we’ve been moving stuff and painting. Why would you completely re-paint the inside of a new home? Partly because the color I chose didn’t seem right, and partly because their paint has a smell I don’t like, and it’s still in the house, after several weeks. We’re covering it over with Walmart paint, which has a nice gentle odor that is gone in a couple of days. And besides painting, of course, there’s all the tweaking you have to do with any house you move into: shower curtains, toilet paper holders, towel bars in the right places, knobs on the cabinets and drawers, blinds, all of that. It’s lots of fun. Monday night Phares Gines is loaning us his truck, his trailer, and himself, to move the heavy things. Donna and Bevan are coming to help. Tonight John is bringing his kids and his sledge hammer, to break up the little porch outside the garage. We need to have that area re-graded, so there will be light in the basement window that’s right next to it. I pointed that out to the building supervisor during construction, and he said he was required to pour the porch, but that he wouldn’t put in any rebar, so we could break it up easily. Huh? You’ve gotta love regulations. Thank goodness we’re done with all that. We hope.
          We’ll be totally obsessed with moving for the next couple of weeks or so, but after that we hope to get back to real life. We hope you’re all doin’ great and lovin’ it. We are!
          Love, Mom

Dear Kids,
          We’ve been inundated with birds! There are hundreds of robins and mountain bluebirds around our house. And lots of lgb’s, too. (Little gray birds.) They crash into our windows on a regular basis. Oreo hears the thunk, stretches, and saunters out to pick up his lunch. Meanwhile, the magpies have moved farther up the mountain. 
          We were glad to see several of you at Grandpa’s birthday party Friday night. I was sorry your kids weren’t invited, but it was nice to be able to visit everybody in a calm atmosphere. There was a great video that Nancy put together with the pictures that Andy and Renae scanned. Bonnie said they’ll show it again at Grandpa’s funeral. On one hand, we don’t want him die any time soon, but on the other hand, he’s anxious to be with Grandma. In fact, at his birthday party, when we were singing "Happy Birthday to You," I held back from singing "and many more . . . "
          The log posts at the entryway of our driveway fell down. Actually, they fell down when we gently pushed them, because they were both tipping badly. They could have fallen on a grandchild, or they could have been lying in our path on a Sunday morning when we were anxious to get to church. So we pushed them over, and Dad has been cutting them into firewood. We’re trying to decide on a new entryway. If any of you have any ideas, let us know.
          Our new house? We’re practically there! Everything has been done now except the garage doors, and maybe that won’t be much longer. When we drove past last week and I saw that they had finally hauled away the debris across the street, and leveled out the last two dirt hills, I knew they were serious about finishing. So maybe we’ll be able to start moving soon.
          Life is good! Love, Mom

Dear Kids,
          We’ve had a lot of rain here at the cabin, and we’re expecting more. It’s really odd, since we had such a long hot dry summer. I’m glad for the change. 
          Sharon and Seth left for home on Wednesday. We didn’t see them much the last 2 1/2 weeks they were here because they were off visiting everybody else, in our car, which we were glad to lend them. (Sharon wrote on facebook that they traveled 2,000 miles while they were here. Our Sienna was up for it!) So Dad and I drove the truck during that time, and had some good adventures. One afternoon we went up the canyon looking for hiking trails, and decided to check out an area called Cedar Hollow. We took off on a little road, thinking it would take us to a trail head, but it WAS the trail–a 4-wheeler trail. It got steeper and rockier, with a cliff off one side and a mountain on the other. Naturally we couldn’t turn around or back up, so we kept going. Eventually we came to a turnout with several other trails coming off it. Long story short: we turned around and got back down OK. Now we can say we’ve been 4-wheelin’ in a Chevy truck with 2-wheel drive.
          Our new house is still just sitting there, but we have some indications that Fieldstone Homes might be willing to finish it up. I’m not very eager to actually live there, but I really want to move our stuff in and sort it out. Where are my winter clothes? My sewing supplies? Where’s my colored cardstock? Those sorts of things. Besides, there’s at least one dead mouse under our furniture in the greenhouse. Maybe more. I’m anxious to move everything out and clean up the detritus before winter. 
          If you drive past our old house in West Valley, along 4100 South, you can see that the Salgueros have planted corn in the back yard. It’s taller than the fence. Go, Guatemalans!
          We’re doin’ great and lovin’ it. Hope you all are too!
          Love, Mom

Dear Kids,
          Sharon and Donna put on a fun party yesterday here at the cabin. They showed up with their husbands and kids, and Holly and Tim Fower (Sharon and Seth’s old friends from way back) with their four kids. Right in the middle of the party a big storm blew in (Lucy said it was "very thundering") and we had a great downpour. So it was the best possible afternoon.
          Dad and I had spent the morning laying sod, dead sod, actually, on the sledding hill. We’ve been working on that project most of the summer. I put down dead sod about four years ago, but it didn’t hold up to the climate here, and the deer. This time I’m overseeding it with sheep fescue and watering it to get it going. We picked up our current batch of sod on Friday, at Donna’s work site high up in Deer Crest. No wonder she likes her job! The view over the Jordanelle is incredible. Plus, she’s "outside," planting trees and shrubs, driving a truck around . . . what’s not to like?!
          Dad and I are still going to the Heber Senior Center on Thursdays, (the Wasatch Center), enjoying their great meals and getting our chess club started. We always have at least one person show up, but it seems to be somebody different every week. Last Thursday we had two 12-year-old twin boys who just moved here from Burley. They love chess, and they said they want to come every week. They told us they don’t mind hanging out with "old" people. Fortunately we don’t mind hanging out with 12-year-olds. We had a lot of fun.
          The comedy of our new house goes on and on. It’s been nearly nine months. Right now they’re still waiting for the right garage doors to come in. (They gave us plain doors, when we paid a lot extra for doors with windows at the top). But if they were really serious about finishing and closing, you’d think they would have everything else done and be ready to go. But they still haven’t finished leveling the lot across the street and removing the debris, which our contract says they will do. And they haven’t done the final paint job, including all the outside doors. Dad and I haven’t been inside for three weeks, because it’s all locked up now, so we don’t know what else hasn’t been finished up. I try not to think about it too much.
          Nevertheless, life is good. I love you all! Mom

Dear Kids,
          Dad and I are still recovering from the excitement of the family reunion. Thanks to all of you who made it happen! The Tetons are always beautiful, and it was great having nearly all of our family together. Almost anything you do with that many people is bound to be fun.
          Speaking of fun, Sharon and her kids were here until Tuesday afternoon. On Monday, Dad and I needed to go to Home Depot, and we took everybody along. Surprisingly, it turned out to be lots of fun. The kids and I checked out playground kits in the back of the store, and they each took one of the booklets showing all the swings and slides and pirate accessories. They walked through the store looking at the pictures of forts, while Dad and Sharon and I looked at refrigerators and washing machines and flooring. Later, at home, we planned the fort we’re going to build next summer when the Thacker kids come back. (Any other grandchildren who would like to help will be welcome.) This fort is going to be at the new house, of course. (Assuming that Fieldstone Homes is every ready for us to occupy it.) Besides the fort, we’re going to have the big swings, an airplane teeter-totter, a sand digger, and a grown-ups bench. It will be a real playground. I pointed out to Sharon that we’re slowing down on grandchildren, so maybe we shouldn’t be so extravagant with the play equipment, but she said there will always be more grandchildren. 
          Besides our trip to Home Depot, we also had fun playing in the river. I don’t remember it ever being so low, and it might never be this low again. A couple hundred yards down from the bridge, it’s only rocks, with water running around them. Conrad was totally thrilled, wading around and sitting right down in the little pools. Charlie found a pool big enough to fall into. Everybody who wanted to get wet, did. Having that much fun in the river made me realize that the best times are often the most spontaneous and cheapest things you can do.
          Last night Dad and I drove to Logan for Stefanie’s brother’s wedding reception. I know, Brad was totally single when Paul and Stefanie got married in April, and he didn’t even catch the garter when they threw it. (Dave Michelson did.) But one of his former girlfriends came home from a mission to Spain, and their romance took off like a rocket. Dad and I really enjoyed seeing all Stefanie’s family again, and we had a good time visiting with Paul, while Stefanie and her friend Ann were out decorating the car. The Riebens are happy to have all their children well-married now, although they never expected to have TWO weddings in four months.
          Summer is sure winding down fast. Autumn comes early here at the cabin, but we’re up for it! Winter, too!
          Lots of love, Mom