Faith, Family and Farm

7 July 1996 Dear Mother,                 We had a fun 4 th of July. Ryan Fawson (Janet’s nephew) called on Tuesday night and said he was traveling through and was going to stop by. We had him stay over for Sam’s birthday (He was born on the fourth of July). We had a great visit with him. We found out that he was good friends of your great grand daughter, Julie Jones, and her new husband. He was looking through our scrapbook of wedding announcement pictures and saw them there.                 On the fourth we went to Merced and picked up Megan at a friend’s house (where she had spent the night…she is living in Turlock now) then all went out to Yosemite lake for a couple of hours. Then we went to the new Home Town Buffet. We all ate to excess and then went to Wal Mart and then home. Megan came home with us and Charlie and Sam took...

30 June 1996 Dear Mother,                 Carrie got transferred to Barrie, ONT after being eight Mos in Kitchner.                 She’ll be coming home in 5 weeks.                 We had some nice cool weather for about a week. It even rained. Now it’s back to triple digits again.                 Janet just got back from Idaho Falls after spending four days with Mary and her new baby girl. It’s nice to have her home again. The menu gets real bad when she’s gone among other things.                 Charlie is working extracting honey. He plays basketball in a summer league at the high school two or thr...

Dear Mother,                 I missed writing last Sunday because I was in Utah. I had a fun and exciting trip. We flew out Friday morning and arrived in SLC about 11:30 AM. Mary and Heidi Jo were there to meet us at the airport snack bar area. Then we picked up our rental car and went to see Legacy (the movie at the new JS Memorial building theater). While waiting we went over to the Relief Society building where Pres. Benson’s viewing was going on. It was at a lull time and the line wasn’t very long so we went through then went back to see Legacy. Then Sam and Megan and I went up to Honeyville to see Melinda and Family while Mary and Heidi went back to Provo.                 Saturday Megan and Melinda and I drove up to Rexburg to get Megan settled while Dan tended the kids and Sam stayed with them to play. We stopped in Malad to ...

2 June 1996 Dear Mother,                 We finally got some summer weather. It’s about 100 out there today. Maybe my watermelon will grow now.                 We’ve been enjoying some fruit. I love having a variety of fresh fruit available We have peaches, plums blackberries, loquats and mulberries all ripening now on our trees.                 Megan is having a job location change from Sacramento to Merced. Her partner got laid off. So they gave her a new partner and a new location. She’s in the throes of moving and relocating. She’ll probably stay here and commute for a few days. That will be nice having her here with us for while. She’s doing a little better at her job as time goes on. She’s not up to making enough to save much yet, but she didn't ...

69 Dear Mother,                 Yesterday, I was watching the Utah vs. Colorado St. football game and I heard them say,”Dan Pulsipher. He was one of Pete’s friends in Merced Stake when he was young. His dad is a dentist, too and we’ve know the family since we came to Dos Palos. He came to Merced about the same time and we’ve associated in the church through the years. He did a good job, too. He made every kick. That was a thrill to see someone whom I had known as a kid playing on TV. That’s when I really get interested in sports. Utah had a Koslowsky kid playing receiver for them, too. He must have been a brother to the one who was receiver for BYU last year. It's going to be a “bite” if Utah beats BYU with players that would have liked to get to the Y but went to the U instead because the Y wouldn't give them a scholarship. You may not know that Colo., Colo St., Utah and BYU are ranked in the top 25 colleg...

Dear Mother,                 We got Pete home from Quebec last Thursday. It's been really gratifying to visit with him and hear about his mission experiences. Us parents kind of see our kids as extensions of ourselves and your mission is kind of our mission. I just sit back and tell Pete to tell me all about it.                 Pete has lost about 10 LBS on his mission. He’s a little too thin for my way of thinking. He said that they didn’t get invited out to members houses for dinner very often.                 We picked him up in Fresno on Thursday. Then we took him into Merced to get released from his mission on Friday. Friday night he went with the boys to see the valley championship playoff between Dos Palos and San Juaquin memorial. (which DP barle...

19 May 1996 Dear Mother,                 I just got a letter from your great grand son, Magdalene’s grandson and one of my great nephews, Jason, who is on a mission in Kentucky, as you know, where he got transferred to a little town back in the “boonies” named Harlan. I had not heard of another town named Harlan in the USA since we lived at one when I was a kid.                 Harlan is a special name for me. I remember when we first moved to Oregon, in 1942, to that farm five miles up the Big Elk River (to where it was a bunch of little creeks) from the town of Harlan. Harlan was, as you may recall, a Y in the road with a mill, a school house, a grange hall and a few houses. It was located 12 miles off the hard surfaced road that goes from Corvallis to Newport. We held church in our house with just us most of the time. A fe...