Our lawn is beginning to thicken up

Renee, Harriet & Tippy the dog

February 22, 1959

Dear Mother and Dad,

I am trying to get your letter answered before as much time lapses as it did before I answered the last time. This is Sunday and I will be out every night next week so it looks like now or never. I have been out every night for the last ten days except Wednesday and I stayed home that night so Gene could go to a meeting. Next week is booked solid.

Well, enough for the bragging, complaining or excuses. (Take your pick.) I must get this letter written if for no other reason than to send on the letters that the children have written all on their own and without a bit of coaxing from me. I should have sent them sooner, but, well you know how it is--tomorrow is always filled with such lavish possibilities.

Tomorrow is a holiday here in the schools. (Dale says, "I can sleep in peace tonight.") But I am going to run the recreation at one of the schools so it won't be much of a holiday for me.

I intended to mention to you before how pleased I was to get the letter from the Woods in Sioux Falls. [A family Perry taught and baptized when he was on his mission.] I am so pleased that the family is so faithful in the church. The two girls have married in the church and the others are coming along just like a good Latter-day Saint family should. I think it is especially miraculous that Launa has recovered. I thought it was given up as almost hopeless that she would ever recover. I placed her name in the temple several times and I wrote to her once. I received a letter from her, but it seemed so incoherent that I guess I was too inclined to give it up as hopeless. That is a good lesson in faith.

Gene's mother sent this to Perry in one of her letters

We have finally had a break in the dry spell so now it has been raining nearly every day for almost two weeks. It is getting green now. Our lawn is beginning to thicken up and it is difficult to find a break in the weather to get the lawn cut.

The 10th was Gene's birthday. The children had planned to get her an electric mixer which they saw at the Deseret Industries. We got it for $5.00 but we had to buy beaters which cost $2.50, so all in all it was still a good buy. It was a fairly late model one too. We could never have afforded a new one. The children were so tickled and had such a lot of fun keeping the "secret" from Mama which wasn't much of a secret by the time her birthday arrived.

We were actually worried about finding beaters that fit, and when we found some at about the first place we tried, the children were so tickled that they could hardly contain themselves. Later on when we stopped at a store to get some groceries (Gene was in the car with us) Dale said, "Daddy, I'd better come with you. I don't trust myself to be alone with Mama." Meaning of course that he couldn't trust himself from "spilling the beans."

We are going to get a nice gas range to replace the small broken-down one we have been using all these years. It's an O'Keefe & Merritt, fairly recent model, for $40. I have really been surprised at the fine merchandise that Deseret Industries has, particularly in the appliances. If you are interested in some of these "luxuries" that you never could afford, you might go and look there. I saw an automatic Maytag washer for $40.

I haven't been able to get the family letter written. It is bogged down here this time. But tell the others I will get it on its way soon.  I am enclosing a letter from Jan and Dale. I also just found a letter which Linda wrote to David before Christmas. I guess we forgot to mail it. Will you give it to him. It was in answer to one he wrote to her. Must close, Love, Perry

July 3, 1959

Dear Perry & Family,

It was good to get your letter, and it was good to hear Gene's and the children's voices over the phone. It will be better still to see all of you.

As yet we haven't made a definite plan about just how and when we will come. When Hope and Grant were here last, Grant talked of it (I mean going down in his car to see you folks) and I want to mention it again to him. It will cost us about $60 to come on the train, and it would be much less with a car, and all of us could have a trip. We don't want to coax him, or have him do it for our sakes, but we will give him first chance. He says his car uses less gas than anything he has had before. Elmer's vacation starts on the 19th of July and of course that is Sunday.

A Redwoods vacation when a bear
raided the camp. Luckily we were
all sleeping safely in cabins.

I was surprised to hear that you could be eating green beans and tomatoes out of your garden. It seems so early. We had such a good time when we were there and did a lot of traveling to see things that we don't need to take so many trips, and we don't want to make it hard on you. And we will help buy groceries, so don't worry about food. I still enjoy thinking about the trip up in the mountains and our stay at the "three bears" home.

The girls carried my old trunk up from the basement and we found a lot of things (which were lost) including some of yours. I have your school notebook. I believe it was your second year, and I will bring it down. Maybe the children would like to compare it with theirs, and I think you will have a good laugh.

Well, I better get this mailed. Some of my news and scribbling can wait until we get down there. Love to all. Mother & Dad

Monday July 20, 1959

Dear Mother & Dad,

Your last letter came during a surprise weeks visit from my mother. She came in unexpectedly on a Friday evening and stayed all of last week with us. Mona, my sister-in-law brought her out here. When Perry read your letter to us all, of your plans, and the number of you coming, and the date you plan to be here, we all "jumped up and turned to" it seemed. The children screamed for joy.

Mother, with her remarkable "drive" has been all week planning for your visit, helping me "organize" the house. She inspired us all. Linda washed and ironed curtains while Mother washed windows and woodwork. And I have finally finished the drapes for our bedrooms which I have been wanting to make ever since we've moved in.

Mother took the bus in to LA Saturday and took Linda too for a few days. Marian is spending the week also with her cousins at my brother Pierce's home. I want to mention here to you please don't worry about bedding, etc. We are very fortunate to have plenty of space and three or four extra beds in our basement which we are planning to use. I also have table place settings for 16 and an extra table which we can move in to our kitchen. So you need not worry. There is plenty of room and accommodations for at least 16 of us. We are really looking forward with great pleasure to this visit from all of you. See you soon. Love, Gene