August
2
- Airport - Mom and Dad leave to go pick up Mark
3
- Doctor Rog
4
- Lagoona Beach
5
- Downetta
6
- Wendover
8
- Horse show
10-12
Fair
14
- Mark comes home!
15
- Pour cement?
18
- Doctor Rog
19
- White family party
21
- School starts
22
- Timbermine?
27
- Mark's homecoming
31
- Woman's conf.
August
2, 1989
Can't
sleep. Mom, dad, and Erika left today
for Japan. We are so excited to see
Mark. Don't know if I wrote this, but
I'm a certified appraiser now. I passed
all 4 courses, with scores of 94, 88, 97, and 97. Pretty good huh!?! Got the kids school shopping done. Charged $350.00 Yuck.
Mandy still needs a coat. Duchess
died a couple of days ago. She was sick
with something. Going to the doctor
tomorrow to talk about a vasectomy for Roger.
He will have it done next week.
Going to Lagoona Beach Friday, Downetta, Saturday, and Wendover, Sunday
and Monday. The fair is next week. Manda has a horse show Tuesday, and the Rodeo
is Friday and Saturday. We are going to
enter vegetables from dad's garden.
Mom's birthday is on the 8th, and Grandma Dickson's on the 10th. Mark comes home the 14th, and the kids start
school on the 21st. Mark's homecoming in
church is the 27th. Busy! Busy!
Busy! We've been sick in July. Landon came down with flu and had diarrhea
ALL month. The doctor said just to feed
him the BRAT diet (banana, rice cereal, apple juice and sauce, and toast) Didn't clear up, and finally we took a stool
sample down to the hospital lab and they are checking it out. I've felt rotten too. (2 weeks with a cold) (2 weeks nauseated, gas
and diarrhea) Still on Eat and Be Lean,
but not like I'd like to be.
August
4, 1989
Found
out yesterday that Landon and I have a parasite from our bad well water. GIARDIA.
We are taking medication now.
That's what's been causing my bloating and gas and diarrhea. YUCK! Going to Lagoona Beach today. Woke up at 3:30 a.m., it's now 4:30 a.m. Can't sleep.
Mom and Dad and Erika have seen Mark by now. I'm sure there is rejoicing in Japan. Rog is scheduled for a vasectomy one week
from today. (August 11, 1989) It's a
major step, but one we should take. I
think I would like another baby, but the way our family is, and Rog and my
relationship, it's best not to. I
feel so hopeless sometimes, (all the time!).
August
5, 1989 (Letter from Mom in Japan)
Dear
Family, Wish you were all here and could be enjoying this experience with
us. We would be completely lost at doing
almost anything without Mark. He looks
great! He thinks Lee and I have changed
(appearance wise) and couldn't believe his Dad was so grey. He
is slim. In fact the pants we bought I'm
sure won't fit. He has even had to make
another notch on his belt. His face is
thinner, but he sure has a countenance about him. Our flight to San Francisco was quick. We flew over Yosemite Park and Modesto,
California There was an hour delay in
taking off at San Francisco (left at 2:55 p.m.)
but we pretty well made it up in flight, arriving in Narita airport,
Tokyo at 4:55 p.m. (approx 10 hrs) It
passed quickly, but was still long. We
saw a ship after leaving California, but then flew high about the clouds and
didn't see anything until reaching Japan where we saw the very tip top of Mt.
Fuji above the clouds. The flight was
pretty smooth, but we were asked to fasten our seat belts several times because of air turbulence. The plane
wasn't full so we were able to move around and even find extra seats together
that we could spread out on and lay down.
It seemed funny as the entire trip the sun was up (just ahead of us like
it was when we left San Francisco) Gwen,
Dad got the book read. The airlines fed
us good food and we had plenty of liquids to drink. Upon arriving at the airport, we found a lot
of the employees spoke English, and we had no trouble getting things done and
on the bus to our hotel. Thanks goodness we didn't have to go by train or we would never have made it. Everything here is so green and beautiful,
and of course clean. The buses have no
graffiti marks or even scratches on or in them.
Each seat had a clean white (even looked like lace) cover for your head
to lean against. It was a 2 hour bus trip to the hotel and it was dark by the time we got here. To our surprise the hotel was quite
something. Now we know how the other half lives. There had been a misunderstanding
and the fellow who made the reservations for Mark thought the daily cost was
the 3 day total cost. Things were
straightened out, and we only stayed there one night. ( It cost $400.00 for that
one night) Needles to say it was
sleepless night for Dad and for Mark.
They are a lot alike and both have Grandma Dickson's worrying
trait. We called Mark at 10 p.m. Thursday
night as planned, but he was in an interview as the fellow that had been
scheduled to be baptized Sunday, was baptized tonight. He called us back at 10:30 p.m. What a thrill it was to finally talk to
him. He was so happy and excited and all
of us could hardly wait until the next day to meet. We slept in until 9 a.m. At 11:00 a.m. we ventured out on our own for
a couple of hours. We walked to the
Imperial Gardens which is surrounded by a big moat and covers several blocks,
then through the tall building to a department store. Everything was very impressive, but so
frustrating as we couldn't read a thing--- street signs, instructions,
directions, prices, etc. Mark and Elder
Hurst arrived at the hotel at 1:45 p.m. and we had a happy reunion. After checking out, we went by taxi to the
Tokyo Train Station. Here we left our
luggage in lockers and boarded the train for the Mission Home. Never saw so many people in one place, and
they were all going in different directions.
The train trip was nice and took about 1/2 hour to reach the Mission
Home. Tokyo was very modern with a lot of
tall buildings, but the Mission Home area was delightful. Just like you would like all of Japan to
be. We met the staff (6 missionaries)
and the cute little girl that called us.
We visited with President Kiyabu and his wife (they are so special) and then went to their home for refreshments
and to watch Mark on a training video tape.
We visited at the mission home for about an hour, picked up Mark's
luggage and headed back to the Train Station in Tokyo. After having our first
REAL meal in a Japanese restaurant, we boarded the Bullet train for Kyoto. It was dark so we didn't see much, but it was
exciting. The 3 hour trip was soon over
and we arrived at Kyoto at 11:22 p.m., took a taxi to the Alpha Kyoto Hotel
where Mark had made reservations for us and dropped into bed. We have adjusted to the time change very well,
and so far the weather hasn't been that hot as it has been slightly cloudy. The humidity is quite high. (Erika says it reminds her of New York) but really isn't as bad as we had
expected. It is now 8:20 a.m. Saturday
morning, August 5th. (5:20 p.m. Friday
afternoon your time---are you at Lagoon?)
We are getting ready to go out for the day and will be in this area for
3 more days before heading back to Tokyo.
This will probably be the only real letter that I write, but we'll send
some postcards probably. We are all fine
and hope everyone at home is also! Tell
everyone Hello! Love Mom and all
August
8, 1989 ( This postcard was sent when mom and dad and Erika went to Japan to
pick up Mark from his mission)
Dear
Amanda and Zac, We
saw and fed deer like this yesterday.
some had big antlers. They were
sure tame and were out walking around on the paths and lawns. We are having a good time and will be riding
the Bullet train back to Tokyo today.
See you soon. Love Grandma and
Grandpa, Erika and Mark P.S. Give Landon
a hug
August
8, 1989
Mom's
birthday. They are still in Japan. I AM SO SICK OF SICKNESS! Now Zac and I have cold sores ALL over our
lips. Landon still has the diarrhea, and
not a sore throat. Amanda was throwing
up all last night. I'm on hold for a
doctor to okay a refill of 2 prescriptions which will cost me mucho bucks. Lagoona Beach and Downetta were fun, but not
worth these cold sores. (We should have used sun screen on our lips. Whenever I get my lips sunburned, I get cold
sores) Lynette and her family didn't end up coming to Downetta. Wish they could have. Amanda has her fair horse show tonight. Bet she gets 2 blue ribbons (She got 2 red
ribbons). She's great on that
horse! I'll be glad when school starts
in 2 weeks.
August
13, 1989
Tomorrow,
Mark comes home from his mission to Japan.
He called from Aunt Dixie's home in Hawaii and talked to us. So did mom
and dad. It was great to hear his
voice. The fair is over, and we did
pretty good with dad's vegetables. His
garlic took sweepstakes, and we got about 9-10 firsts, and 3 seconds. I think he'll be tickled. The kids sure are excited to see Mark. He is slim, mom says, in her letter. I bet they've had so much fun! Wish I could
have gone too. Oh well. I wish Tonya were here for this day
tomorrow. Mark is going to BYU in a
little bit, so he'll not be home too long.
Only one more week until school starts, Hurrah!! I got mom a big wooden butterfly to hang on
her fence for her birthday. Hope she
likes it.
August
1989 - Letter from Linda
Dear
Rog, Gwen and kids, Well, here we are
doing this again (writing) Seems
strange. So, how are all of you
now? I heard you had a bad case of the
flu at your place. Hope everyone is over
it now. (This was actually Giardia
bacteria that we got from our bad water)
We are doing fine. The boys are
working hard, and Brenda just chases with me all day. Bruce likes his job quite well, he's had 2
raises since we've been here. It's a lot
of work for him though. I haven't looked
for a job yet. We are in our house now,
and it's nice. Brand new in fact. It's about a 15 minute drive from Base, but
we really like it. We are driving a
Toyota 4-door, and looking for a van.
Also, waiting for our 2nd shipment to get here. Our first made it
already. Although a lot of things were
broken. It's been real hot and humid,
but I hear it's been real hot at home too.
I guess you guys are gearing up for the annual fair, huh? Are the kids ready for school yet? Todd just crosses the street and he's
there. We've been to the beach a
lot. I guess I'll snorkel with the
boys. Although the other day we saw 3
jellyfish, and I wasn't too excited then.
Todd found an octopus the other day, and hurried and got out for the
rest of the day. (We are real
brave) so, what's everyone been doing to
keep busy? I guess you know by now that
my two teenagers are coming home. (Brenda and Darrin) Talk about a worry. But they tell me they will be fine. I'm not too worried about Brenda, just wish
Darrin were out of school too. It would
be a little easier to let go of them.
Well, I know that I missed both Landon's and Rog's birthdays, so I'm
sending all these gifts together, and would you please give mom, Kelly's and
Layne's and have her give them to them when she sees them? I will close for now. Sorry I'm such a sloppy writer. Love, Linda
August
30, 1989 - Letter from Bruce
Dear
Roger, Gwen and Family,
Thank
you for the birthday card. It makes me
feel good to hear from you and know everything is okay. We are getting small in numbers over
here, it should seem good, but it
doesn't. I know now why parents try to
talk kids into staying around and getting educated. It's a big worry now. I guess everyone has to
do what they think is right. I think
back when I was 17, 18, 19, wow that's way back there. Anyway, nobody could talk me into anything
that wasn't my idea. I guess as parents
we will always worry, that's part of raising kids. When Kelly finally left, I thought "Ben
and LuAnn finally have it made now".
But the feeling you get when kids leave, really isn't having it
made. You really need to spend a lot of
time with kids, because they grow up too fast.
We sure think your little one has grown.
How about the other two? When do
we see their pictures, (ha-ha) How's
work for you Roger. I hope you have
things going your way. How many more
times are you going to let Doctor's cut on you?
Sounds pretty spooky to me. How
is Uncle Don? I hope he's doing
good. We sure do miss him and hope he
gets along okay. He told me I was crazy
for going back. You know, I think of
what he said a lot, and sometimes I laugh.
He's probably right, but I'm still pretty hard-headed. I love and miss you all a bunch. Bruce
August
31, 1989
It's
12:15 a.m., and I can't sleep. Thinking
about work and pay raises. It's hard to
explain it all. Mark is home and doing
fine. September 5th, he starts at
B.Y.U. He did a great job at his
homecoming. Erika got a new car, a beige
Nissan Stanza. The kids like
school. They are doing well. A co-worker back-stabbed me at
work. I dislike her intensely. Dick Peterson died. Landon got GIARDIA again. So many problems!
