Happy 30th!!

Bethany,

Wow! I can't believe the baby of the family is turning 30!! That means
I am getting quite old as well! It has been such a wonderful adventure
watching you grow up. I was so excited when Mom and Dad brought you
home from the hospital. Being 9 years old, I just took over for Mom. I
loved feeding you and even changing your diapers. I was especially
excited that we now had a new invention-disposable diapers. I didn't
have to worry about sticking you with a pin trying to get a cloth
diaper on. You were such a perfect little baby until you reached 9
months old. I will never forget how excited we all were when you
decided to take your first steps in the church on the day of Dad's
funeral. We have been chasing you ever since. Once you started walking
you got into everything. Your strong personality began to emerge. You
were so full of energy and wished to explore everything, besides being
extremely independent. You definitely wanted to figure things out for
yourself.

Car rides were such an adventure as you would not sit still. You loved
climbing back and forth from the backseat to the front. I really think
car seats were invented because of you. Mom finally bought a booster
seat and had some sort of seat belt installed to keep you tied up. I
think it is such a blessing that you had 4 older siblings to keep
track of you. While we lived on the farm, our biggest fear was that
you would wander off and fall in the creek that ran near our house. We
each took turns shadowing you making sure we knew where you were at
all times.

It is such a good thing we had such great neighbors in Provo. Everyone
on our street knew who you were because you were always visiting them.
It just took us a little time to figure out which house you were at.
Usually it was next door at the Johnsons. You and Jill were like twins.

Church was such an adventure. Getting you to sit still was out of the
question. You wandered up and down the aisles and sat with whomever
you wanted. If we tried to get you, you just took of running and would
scream at the top of your lungs.

I will never forget when you sliced your tongue from falling on the
hearth or sewing your finger and the black eye you got from jumping
off of the dresser onto the bed-only you missed and hit the corner of
the night stand. Your eye and side of your face was so black and blue,
Mom refused to let you out of the house for fear someone would think
she beat you!

Some of my favorite memories are of Timpview Softball. I so enjoyed
coaching you all four years you were there. Your freshman year was
especially great because Carol-Lyn was on the team as a senior. We
spent so much time together everyday.

I'll be honest, I was very glad you finally graduated. That meant no
more nights of you coming over to our Orem house getting help with
math-that was the easy part-or agonizing over your English papers. At
least in college the papers were spread out and it wasn't a nightly or
weekly occurrence.

Some of my favorite memories of your teen and college years are:
* Courtney and I traveling with you to Kansas City for a softball
tournament. Courtney was only about 16 months old
* Moving you into your apartment at Dixie. Remember going shopping at
DI for a dresser?
* Spending part of Thanksgiving in St. George and meeting Danny for
the first time.
* Convincing you that you could be happy living on a teachers salary,
there were other stores besides the GAP and shopping at Walmart would
be fine.

You are such a wonderful wife and mother. It has been so fun watching
you mature in these roles. You are so thoughtful, kind and caring. You
have made great use of the strong personality you were blessed with. I
am so impressed with the woman you have become. What a great example
you are to me. You have such a cute family. I only wish you were
closer so we could interact more personally instead of just over the
phone or by email. What a blessing you are in our family!

I love you so much and wish you another happy 30 years!

Wendy