Major Events in 1985 and Christmas and Christmas Card 1985

Park City, UT--January--Meagan learns to ski--Fun Trip!

Provo, UT--April 19--Jimmy and his bicycle collided with a garbage truck and spends six months recuperating at home 

La Jolla, CA--May-- Mark, Gary, John, and Jimmy convert surf house to playhouse!

Big Bear, CA--July--Much needed vacation at Lagonita Lodge 

Forest Park, Illinois--Move in September, Gary, Linda, and Kristi are at Loyola Dental School

 

Austin, TX--Sherry and son Zack move to Austin, Texas as Sherry secured a job in the loan business using the experience she has gained in La Jolla.

San Diego, CA--September 12--Michael Aston Valko born, Maria and Mark are the proud parents.

Glendive, MT--November--Janet's brother Dick passes away--Janet joins her family for a loving tribute.  The funeral was very nice.  Dave told about when they were young in the depression with one bicycle for two boys and doing the paper route for years.  Marilyn and Jeanne gave the prayers at the funeral, Carole gave the prayer before the funeral and I gave the prayer at the viewing the night before. 

Everyone was taking it all really well but it is scary to Mary and Cheri and Jeff to have the whole responsibility of the store.  Right next door to the store Dick had just bought the building and got other merchants to come in.  The rent will be about $3000 a month to Mary so if they can keep the merchants in there it should be good.  It is called Anderson's Mini-Mall and he got a Citizen of the Month Award for bringing new life into downtown when the town is so depressed.  

 Dick and Mary 

We gathered at Mary's house in Glendive, Montana

Dave and Dorothy

Carole, Marilyn, and Janet with Mom.   Arky and Rod's wife and baby.

Remaining Anderson children with Mom

Carole and Len with their boys

Marilyn and Arky, Jeanne, Mary, Mom, Dorothy and Dave, Janet and Carole, Len and their boys

La Jolla, CA--November--Jimmy set apart as an Elder and at same time President Kimball passes away.  

Jimmy traveled all over Europe after High School graduation and attended ski school in Austria and Italy with a rich friend and so was able to be on the BYU ski team.  Just before trying to get ready for a spring ski trip to Colorado, he was hit by a BYU garbage truck while riding his bicycle.  He received severe head injury and damage to his tibia.

While mending for 6 months he prepared for a mission and left last month for Colorado Mission.  He was not able to go abroad because of possible head seizures and need for leg physical therapy.

Boulder, CO--November--Jimmy arrives at first city to serve on his mission!

San Diego, CA--December--John finishes graduate school at San Diego State.   He is looking for a job

Los Angeles, CA--John begins his new career as a Tax Accountant with Peat, Marwick, Main and Co.  

San Diego, CA--December--We are putting Maria in as Operations Manager, in charge of keeping all supplies bought and forms printed, turning the garage room into a mailroom, etc.  We just have to get more organized and get Richard to spending his time doing the right things.  We are also cleaning and reorganizing the Clairemont office for better looks and efficiency.

Christmas in La Jolla

Meagan and Michael

Maria and Baby Michael

John and Meagan

Grandma Janet and Michael

Michael

John and Meagan

Maria and Michael

Christmas in Illinois

Kristi

Christmas in Colorado for James

After Christmas Notes

I have been up since 3 am writing long notes to those I want to rather than sending a lots of cards.

 John starts February 10 with Peat Marwick in Los Angeles.  Should be exciting to finally be working after all his schooling.

We are doing all right but will have to make some decisions this next year about selling our house.

Business is Going Well! 1986

1986 is going to be as hectic as last year with everyone wanting to refinance and all sources strained it appears, but all is well at the moment.  Richard and I are feeling good and believe it or not Richard had a hot dog at Price Club and said he didn't like it!!! 

I had some really difficult problems on my loans this week though.  I asked the Lord to help me and we did get them done!!  When I went out to one of the Lender's where Dan Northcutt from our Stake works he told me he was amazed and said he had told the girls working for him that I could never pull it off,  but I did.   

I had one borrower in Austria on a ski trip who would be back three days late for the other borrower to be able to close and I had another borrower who could not qualify and since each person was buying the other person's house (three houses, four couples involved) everything had to work and if it didn't I would have felt very responsible because two of the borrowers were mine.  Thank the Lord we worked hard, negotiated with everyone and got the one in Austria to fly back early and got one borrower to pay extra to get a buydown so the lender would approve him and it all turned out ok.  

On another deal on a loan we had worked on for three months we had finally funded and were going to close the next day when the escrow officer called and said we were $19,100 short and the borrower had said he did not have any money to bring in and the lender had said they could not lend him any more and if we did not have it by morning the whole deal would fall through and the property would be foreclosed on. Payments were not being made and they could not see that the taxes were paid though and for some reason it did not show up till right at the the last minute.  We were panicking for about 15 minutes when the borrower called up and said his bank was opening up special for him to get a cashiers check and it closed.  So we had some close ones but we closed them and were paid!! 

We have about 25 loans going and it is so hard to keep up with it all but at least we can pay the bills and keep moving ahead.  This Saturday I taught four of the Help You Sell agents about financing and they said said they really learned a lot and enjoyed the class.  They are pretty good to refer loans to me.  Since brokers have become a thing now and not everything being done by the banks the real estate agents have a lot to learn!

Went by mistake to 7th Ward last week and they were having a Farewell for Johnny Rasimas to the Tonga Mission.  His sister Michelle is very vivacious and gave a good talk.  Donna Moncrief is so pretty and she gave a good talk and the father did also.   

Linda wrote that they are having problems with mice in Chicago and need D-Con!  We know all about mice from problems we had!!!

Maria and Mark are moving in here.  Most of the time baby Michael is very relaxed and a chubby, jolly fellow.  

James is doing well on his mission! 

We just realized that Brother and Sister Squires who were at the MTC when James was there are relatives!

James Doing Well on His Mission, 1986

James is doing so well on his mission, giving so much of himself.  I wrote in a letter to him that we are so proud of each of our children.  Each one is so unique and contributes something special to others.  We love that all of them are very responsible, independent, honest and dependable.  They all are as depicted in the 13th Article of Faith what we should be.

Reminds me of the joke Carole used to tell about the teacher telling the children that they were here "to serve others".  And a child raised his hand as asked,  "What are the others here for?"

Linda is Working in La Mesa, John is at his New Job, 1986

Yea, Valentines Day!

Linda will be doing the servicing at Jones in La Mesa for two or three months while they change it over.  Guess we will definitely start our own business and Richard and Bill are separating.

Linda is pregnant and Gary will be home in the summer but Linda will probably have her baby here the first week in September before she goes back to Chicago so she is seeing Dr. Livingston here in La Jolla so should work out well.

John's new address is 8710 Delgany Ave, Apt 7.   Playa Del Rey, CA 

He is working for Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co!!!  

News of the Children and Grandchildren, 1986

 Jimmy writes such great letters,  his "big" spirit lifts us all.  I need to take his advice and live the gospel and be happy.  So often I feel sorry for my role in life when I should be grateful the Lord has blessed me with a good mind and ability to do loans.  I had my biggest month ever.  $8900!!  It helped to pay a few bills but we still have a  lot more to go and unwinding from Jones.

We are starting a new company asap so we can get paid on both sides, by summer we will probably be on our own for better or worse.

I decided it would be smart to sell this big house eventually and to buy a new smaller free and clear with cash and not have to work so hard.  I think I would like to live where there is more openness.

This last month I worked every day from 6 am to 10 pm and caught a bug and went to the doctor today to try and get well.  Had to give up my walks with Jean but hope to be back tomorrow or next day at it.

I put Jimmy's stereo in my bedroom and really enjoy the good music so much.

Mom enjoyed a letter from Jimmy.  Glendive won the state championship in basketball again, 4 out of 5 years. Hunter plays on the team!

Mary is sending us all a plan that I had suggested originally on setting a time for each family at the cabin so hopefully we will all use it.

John did not come home this weekend but Linda and Gary were here.  Gary is doing well.  Linda's cooked us all dinner and does all very well.    Kristi is very petite and she and Meagan play well together though Meagan gets a little frustrated because Kristi is not quite old enough for some things.   

Meagan gets more beautiful all the time with her silky brown hair and brown eyes,  Kristi looks like a pixie and Michael looks a lot like Jimmy did as a baby though his eyes seem much bluer.   He laughs and smiles all the time and has big dimples like Mark.  

Jimmy says his leg is getting stronger, he has surely had a challenge with that. 

Jimmy's bank statement show he spent a lot last month, he must be eating well!

                          Meagan, Kristi and Zack

Fuquas to Come and New Family News, 1986

As of May 31 Richard is completely separated from Jones.   

The Fuquas are going to live with us this next year to see if Len can do this business.  Coming down in time to get the boys in school.

Richard and I enjoyed a weekend in Big Bear, need to get away from it all sometime.

Maria and Mark are in Michigan, Maria went a week early so they could have more time with baby Michael.  Mark is working with a air conditioning/heating company and quite likes it.  Hope that works out.

Linda and Gary spend weekends in El Cajon and Linda is here all week and has gotten some sewing done.  The last two weeks she also took care of Meagan because Meagan went to Zoo school in the mornings one week and to Scripps Aquarium School in the mornings the second week.  Meagan can read and can write also.  She is going into first grade this year.

John is taking a real interest in cooking so I am giving him a small food processor for his birthday, he wanted it!  He and Gary are planning a trip to the High Sierras. 

We received a letter from James' mission president saying he is being called to be a district leader!

Richard and I switch furniture around a little so we can have a private sitting area in our bedroom to maintain our privacy.

We put the bunk beds in James' bedroom for a couple of the Fuqua boys. We have quite a juggling of people in our house.  Linda is having her baby in San Diego instead of Chicago and so may be here for a bit even after the Fuquas come and Maria and Mark come down quite often, too.

Two of the boys will probably be in the garage.  We have new carpeting  in there and we will make a wall out of high storage shelves.  Everybody says we are  crazy and asking for trouble but I think we can all get along if we try.

Roberta was very surprised to hear the Denver Temple will be dedicated in October.  It was started the same time as the San Diego Temple and it is getting nowhere.  Evidently the architect here displeased the church officials so not moving forward fast.

Meagan is sewing her own Barbie doll clothes.  I cut out a lot intending to make them for Christmas but never had time so I showed her how to sew them by hand and she loves doing it!!!

My Mom is now living permanently with Jeanne, She is 84.  I was in an old folks home last week and those people sit around like vegetables, and a lot younger than Mom, too.  So sad.  Happy Jeanne can take her in.  

Choice Mortgage, 1986-1996

These are some of the ads and letters that we used in Choice Mortgage.  But I found the best advertisement was word of mouth.  If you do well, your name gets passed on to friends and workers and soon you have clients that call you.

I remember one of the agents we were training wondered why I never had to cold call for clients, that is why because I had built up a good reputation for doing a good job and your name gets passed on.

The mortgage broker business was new in the mid-eighties.  People went to their bank for a loan.  That was all they knew.  But when banks started selling their loans into the secondary market such as FHLMC and FNMA a whole new business was opened up for independent brokers like ourselves.  I learned right along with all the others in San Diego learning a new business.  It was one time when my curious mind opened up a whole new life and career for me.  

Richard never did learn the secondary market of first grade mortgages.  He stuck with the second mortgage side of the business, making loans with individuals who had money to invest and wanted a higher interest rate than they could get at banks, etc.

One person was very frustrated with all the information we needed to get from them.  So I wrote the following to my clients.  Richard and I were both meticulous about sending out referral letters to old clients.  And it worked.  At one time I had so many nice letters that I received complimenting me on my good work.  Of course, there were a few that did not turn out so well, too. 

 And at the beginning when I was learning, there was the shysters who stole my loans away.  I learned a lot from guys already ahead of me in the business.  Most guys like to share their knowledge and I appreciated soaking it up.  But there are always those who take advantage as well.  I learned.  I toughened.

This was an advertisement for the kind of business that Richard did and his clients loved him.  He would stop at their home and tell them what was available for them and really had a personal relationship with all of them. 

This was Suzanne, a very faithful secretary to Richard.  She followed him over from Jones Mortgage when he left.  So did Candy, I don't have her picture.  Both were very good workers and served Richard very well.

 

Richard's nephew came to work for Richard with the promise that if he could do well in commission only sells, Merrill Lynch would hire him, and Richard gave him that opportunity.  He did very well and left for Merrill Lynch.

Some of the agents Richard tried to train.  Some made it.  Some did not.  Commission only business is very hard and not for every one.

Here was our rock, he was such a great teacher of the computer, a great helper in everything that was needed.  He really loved working with Richard and was so sad when Richard passed away.  

He was my greatest help at learning the computer.  Later we all took classes but at first there were none.  I was fortunate in that a loan processing developer told me he would teach me the computer if I would use his program.  I did and he did and it was a mutual good thing for both of us.  But he often became frustrated with my literal approach and inability to listen well to instructions.  His favorite phrase was "the computer is not forgiving".  

The Fuquas are Here!!, 1986

All the Fuquas are here, 15 people here this weekend! Gary has returned to Chicago  and Linda will be having her baby soon.

Eric has already had his car stolen, put the keys under his carpet and window open, etc.  Kathy (John's friend) was nice enough to meet Hunter before registration at La Jolla High.  

The middle bedroom facing the ocean we took the wooden shutters down and putting up mini-blinds, such a beautiful view and so light in there.  Linda and Kristi are staying in there.

Richard sold three houses this weekend and we funded almost a million dollars in my loans this month!!

J I Earl News, Linda and Baby News, 1986

Richard wrote to James and one of the things he told him was that I was working hard and very effectively.    He said I was extremely capable and  have proven to be a real sophisticated business person. Wow!

Although it was tedious to separate from Jones we now have eight of us, two computers, two memory writers as well as three typewriters and a large copier.  

A large company just bought out Help U Sell,  we think this will give us a boost and help us build the business more effectively.

The J I Earl family is in the midst of compiling a a book detailing the life and posterity of Joseph Ira Earl, son of Sylvester Henry Earl.  Sylvester was the one who joined the Church, was in Nauvoo, and trekked to Salt Lake.  So Richard is busy gathering information on the children and grandchildren of his Mother,  Vida Earl Hardy.  Sounds like a big job. but Richard will make assignments and gather it in, he is good at that.  Ken Earl and his wife Ludeen Earl are going around the country and gathering pictures and information for the book.  He is son of Kenny and Verdie and Kenny was the son of J I.  Ken has a law practice in Moses Lake, not sure if he retired or just taking the time to do it.

Linda had her baby September 11 and I flew out with her and Kristi and baby Craig.  We keep calling him Michael by mistake.  Linda and Gary are renting a roomy, old house and Gary rides a motor scooter to school.  Some other dental students in the ward gave Linda a little shower.  It is interesting how Church people are the same all over, they look the same and talk the same.  Linda has high blood pressure though so she's going to have to slow down, she has things perfect all the time, such a worker.

Downtown Chicago is very alive and busy.  I was surprised at how hot and muggy it is though.  

The work is going well with Jimmy on his mission and we are so proud of the example he is setting and we're doing well on getting the bills paid.   

Eric and Hunter went back to Glendive to go to school, it was frustrating to start over in a big city.  Carole is reassessing what she is going to do, she can work here but she doesn't like techy work so will see.

Update on Family, 1986

 We are getting our mail back from Jimmy's last address which is strange but he probably did not do a forwarding order.  I am getting tired of working, we did not get to the beach all summer, soooo busy.

Jon F has been  washing my car on the weekends, nice job for him and I am glad to get it done.  

I am on a vitamin kick and trying to get more energy.

Mark and John are trying to get some  time off so we can all go up to Park City for Christmas.  

Mom is at Jeanne's, Maria sent Jimmy some cookies, little Michael is a real character.  He slouches in his high chair and puts his feet up like no baby I have ever seen...real cool.

News for Thanksgiving and Christmas, Meagan Coming!, 1986

We have been having some interesting Meetings with Compufund, we have a franchise with them and Choice Mortgage.  I think it will be good for us and they appear to be doing better than they were when we were Jones.

Another lender invited me (one of six from San Diego) to a meeting to introduce a new loan.  They said they like working with me because we bring nice clean loans and we are honest!

We have moved the loan business upstairs and it is fixed up really very nice.  It is so much better organized and neat and quiet.  Isaac B works with me as loan agent.  He also was at La Jolla Newport.  He is a Mexican Jew and has a son 19 and a girl 15.  He is very pleasant to work with and says the Jews have a fun religion with lots of celebrations.  Isaac has a darling 5 year old and he takes him to Jewish school.  He says he does not want to dedicate Willie to God.  He was joking but he means he is too adorable to give to anybody, even God, I guess. 

We sent Jimmy a package with 25 presents, not expensive and mostly edible.  It is supposed to be for him to open one a day till Christmas

Richard closed quite a few deals this week so was feeling good.  He is taking vitamins too and I do think it helps us.

My brother Dave and his wife Dorothy took Mary (wife of my brother who died) on a trip through the New England states and they had a wonderful tune.  Mary said they saw Mom in Utah and that she has gained 10 pounds and looks better than ever.  She does appear to be happy there.

Meagan is flying down next Monday for Thanksgiving and we are going to Disneyland Thursday and have our turkey dinner Friday night.  John will be going with us and I think the Fuquas and Maria, Mark and Michael.

I guess John will be going to Park City with us for Christmas, too. Yea!

We have our Christmas shopping done and the Ward is having a Christmas party at our house on the 13th.  We will have our house decorated by then and we leave for Park City on the 20th.

      

Lots of News About Family, Date to Move to Remodeled Choice Mortgage Office, 1987

Richard and I are still working 14 hour days.  I hope eventually the new office and new people we have will cut down on our workload.  Now it seems I just have to spend more time teaching other people and less time to work on my own deals.  With the new owner of the building making changes our office will be like new and on the ground floor.

We are moving into the  new office on the first of April.  They have painted the office and we have selected carpet, they will be putting in the phones next.  

We had $30 in overdraft charges, communicating and handling the money for James' mission is a continual problem.

Last night we went to the movie "Lethal Weapon" with Mel Gibson.  Very exciting.  We still go to Horton Plaza on Friday nights for our eat treat and movie.

We are really enjoying Michael, he is such a fun baby, makes all kinds of faces, about. 15 months now.  Maria and Mark are staying here till she has her new baby boy in March.   

I hope we can eventually make enough money to remodel the bathroom, kitchen and add a deck to this house.  We've decided if we can make it here we will not sale this house, also want to add a west window to the front west bedroom, wouldn't that be a great view. 

We took Meagan and John and the Pulsiphers to Disneyland and it was relaxing.  The new Star Tour is really exciting.  These two creatures take you on a flight in space and it is the driver's first trip so we have sudden drops, lots of swerves, bump into things, have sudden stops and starts and travel at space rate, very realistic.

John has a nice apartment in LA.  It is a 3 bedroom with large living, dining, and lots of light.  He has a roommate but it is still expensive.  His office is very impressive and he is very well-liked for his work, etc.   

The strawberries are finally planted and we have had lots of rain lately so they look very good.

 It is a real blessing to know how to work and be willing to do it.  I feel blessed for having such responsible, sensible, and beautiful children.

I pray for Jimmy in his travels and pray he comes home to us safely after his mission.

No Christmas Card 1986

No Christmas Card again this year and the only pictures taken were of Michael.  What a cutie he is.

1986 was the year of the refinance.  Rates went down and everybody wanted to get in on the lower rates.  Banks could not handle the volume so for me and my team it was a banner year for doing loans.  Of course, there were not enough appraisers and things took a long time.  We literally worked around the clock.  It was a very hard year but we were up to it and did very well.

But no time for anything else but work!!!