For the Lillywhite Family Letter

Laney is turning into a real fish. In the Spring you couldn't get her to consider swimming lessons. Now, she doesn't need them. I think she will have a great time at the beach in San Clemente. Jensen is struggling through the classes she has to take to finish with her AA degree by next year. Both she and Ailsa have devoured the Harry Potter book. Ailsa had it read in 48 hours. They have also seen the new movie 3 times. We will see it soon. Ailsa has mono and is certain she is dying of cancer. Her publisher (a little mom and pop operation) folded so she has no deal cooking on any of her books. But, we think we have a good lead on a publisher through one of Lenore's cousins. Lenore is feverishly reading the latest Mountain Meadows Massacre book. I tell her she really needs to counsel with her Bishop about reading that stuff. I'm 750 miles into a 1000 mile month on my bike. Looks like I will make it.

Ailsa and Lane at Hotel Hoke on the Colorado River

The girls are safely back from Parker, AZ. They skirted the Milford Flat fire on Sunday during a short opening of I-15. They had a great time and are none the worse for the wear.

We weren't able to go to the River to stay at Kim's house near Parker this July. I don't have a lot of vacation time to spare and Jensen is taking a class that she can't miss. But, Ailsa and Lane went.

We were a little apprehensive about Ailsa driving with Kiddo. But, from Spanish Fork to Saint George she caravaned with the Porters and then from Saint George they drove with the Grandparents in their car. On the way back from Saint George she and Laney will be alone, I think. It was a little hard to get over the anxiety of letting them go and questioning their safety. But, all reports are that they are having a great time and Laney is behaving herself.

I've been trying to ride 1000 miles this month on the bike. But, as of today I am behind. On the 4th I rode 60 miles and it wasn't too bad. After the last turn home around the RR tracks in Draper I saw a couple of riders up ahead of me and set out to catch them. The first rider wasn't too hard to overtake. But, I didn't catch up with the second rider for about 4 miles. And it was a girl. We were going around 24 MPH. I fell in behind her for a while and then passed her. But, she kept me close. Then we got stopped at a light. Same thing, I fell in behind and then tried to pass her and it took forever. Finally, she turned on "Creek" road.

Later in the afternoon we went to Leslie's to swim in the pool. Right before dinner I was really enjoying just lying on the floaty mat and soaking in the Sun. It was wonderful. I could have fallen asleep.

Wednesday Last

Last week we had a lot of things going on. Tuesday night was the wedding dinner for Kathy Pedersen and Cyrus Hanks. Kathy is a sweet girl from a very nice family. We would like to get more activity out of her parents. But, thankfully they have gotten her off to a good start in life. Her husband's family is very strong and nice. The dinner was wonderful.

On Wednesday noon Kathy and Cyrus were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. The sealer was GA Emeritus Philip Sonntag. He was a bit of a cut up. He said he married his wife 10 days after he got home from his mission and it was the worst decision of his life.... He should have married her 9 days earlier.

I am told that they routinely admonish the Sealers at the Temple to keep their remarks to 20 minutes or so because of backlog on the sealing rooms. I think Brother Sonntag took about 50 minutes.

Cyrus' family lives in Sandy a little further East than the Smiths. Their Bishop is Bruce Lindsay, local TV anchorman and personality. We got to meet him a chat a little while at the Temple.