So much to be thankful for....

We're grateful for so many blessings at this glorious Thanksgiving time of year. This has been a busy, but memorable Thanksgiving week. The week began by attending Vivi & Brett's ward to see their Primary Program. Sitting next to their Grandma (Diane) Caudle, I loved seeing Clark and Daisy participate in giving their parts and singing. Kaeley was to sing along with one of the songs, but she wasn't too interested. Being a Grandma is the best.

Monday afternoon we welcomed Emily and her boyfriend, Bronson Gardner, who is from Astoria. Emily and Bronson are in the same ward at BYU. They met that first Sunday, Emily's 2nd day back to school. Soon they began dating and have been together ever since. He is a fine young man, and Emily seems so happy and content. The Vance's and the Caudle's joined us for dinner that evening and FHE and games. We really appreciate all Emily & Bronson did for us while they were here. They hauled the boxes out of the garage and decorated the house for Christmas. They worked together on the decorating and then put together a cabinet organizer for the grandchildren toys in the basement, along with several other projects that were so helpful to us. By noon on Wed. they headed to Astoria to spend the remainder of the holiday with Bronson's family. We enjoyed getting better acquainted with Bronson and Emily felt at home with his family, too. This week only strengthened their relationship as they found they enjoyed being with each other in other settings besides school. 

Wednesday was baking day in preparation for Thanksgiving. I was assigned the "Sweet Potato Pie" as we call it and apple pies. Crismon was going to work with me on the pies that evening as tradition, but unfortunately there was a serious need and he was called to the hospital in Clackamas to give a member of our stake a blessing. Making 3 apple pies by myself that night was a bit of a stretch for me physically, but I was grateful when Crismon returned to help me brine the turkey. Since Ondalynn's oven was small, we both roasted a smaller turkey. We took our china, goblets and best silverware to make it extra special on Thanksgiving.

We appreciated Ondalynn & Gary hosting Thanksgiving at their home this year. We joined with the Caudle's and Fawn & Mike Johnson, and their daughter, Nyah. The Vance's neighbor came for a short time. We had such a delicious meal, and then Gary asked us to share about the most famous person we had met and the most unusual job we had ever had. It lead to an interesting conversation by all.

 

 

To make room for pie, we headed outside in the drizzle for a walk several times around the park close to their home. We enjoyed gathering for a program of thanks, and Thanksgiving hymns.

 I often get pictures of the kids, so this time I wanted to make sure I had one of the couples, too. We are blessed with a beautiful family! Gary and Brett went to see the movie, "Interstellar," the children watched a program they enjoyed, and the rest of us watched "The Giver" after the dishes were done and things packed away. Naturally, we missed each one of our other children. We spoke briefly with Crismon in Taiwan, and Seth in Minnesota, and communicated with others by text messages. We live in a beautiful land of freedom, with the blessings of the Gospel, and the Priesthood power that unites us as family. We feel rich as we humbling recognize the outpouring of God's love upon us. I love my life, my wonderful husband, the joy of being a mother, and the sweet privilege of having grandchildren to adore and cherish.

One added blessing that happened this month, we received a generous bonus from Reliv for being 1st in the Nation during the month of October in volume of sales. This was such a great blessing as a steep property taxes were due at the same time. Heavenly Father always watches out for us.

Special time with the Caudle's

Keeping up with recording the various activities of the year have been a challenge. So, like my post about the Vance family, I'll record some of the fun happenings this year, so far, with the Caudle's During spring break, Vivi and her children, Clark, Daisy and Kaeley joined us for a picnic lunch at the Gresham City Park. Grandpa played ball with them afterwards. Many families head off to Disneyland, or other exciting places, but Vivi is so good to make these vacations a special time for their children. She is such a good Mommy taking them places to create those memories. They spent the night at our house. Since the grass was still damp, Grandpa set up a tent in the basement for them to sleep in. The next day they played at our house.

Daisy and Kaeley looked so beautiful on Easter Sunday with their matching dresses. They hunted for Easter eggs in the Vance's backyard. Don't they have a cute family!

In May, Grandpa took Clark on a Father & Sons Outing. Clark had such a terrific time with all the outdoor events.

Sometimes I will tend the children so Brett and Vivi can go to the temple, or have time together for a date. It's a joy to serve these cute ones. Then, when they come to our house, Clark asks for chores so he can earn the right to use my IPad.

We all met at the Caudle's apartment in October to celebrate Daisy's 6th birthday. On November 9th, I put on the dinner for my two beautiful daughters, Ondalynn & Vivi, for their birthdays.

We love having this precious family close by. Vivi comes and helps me with things around the house, and it's so fun to have her cute kids come, too. Dad took Clark bowling yesterday for a fundraiser for the East Portland Chamber. Unfortunately, he didn't get pictures but he had a fun time being with Clark. On his very last ball, Clark made a strike!

Back to Paradise

Who can pass up the opportunity of spending one-on-one time with these adorable William's children? I'm a lucky Grandma! With Bryan in Georgia doing rotations for nearly a month, I made my way to Arizona to help give Meredith a little of a break from doing the daily routine all on her own. Meredith was handling being a single Mom just great! She would have made it fine without me, but I'm glad I could enjoy those five days in beautiful Arizona. I love going there. I guess you can say, "I left my heart there...25 years ago!" But I love Oregon, too. Being in Arizona brings back so many fond memories.

I love the time I had to read stories to these 3 cute kids, Evelyn (5), Christian (3), and Hudson 18 months. I was especially happy I bonded with Hudson as he hasn't been around me very much. Seeing him in Utah in October he didn't want very much to do with me. Now we're pals. On my last day there, while at the park, Hudson came over to me, took me by the hand and had me climb up on the playground equipment and go down the slide with him. Loved it! Doing a puzzle with Evelyn, playing CandyLand and Spot It with Christian was so fun. They are such good children, just busy and at that age that they need lots of attention. 

One of the highlights of my visit was attending the Open House for the Phoenix, AZ temple. Fortunately for the William's, it is just a 5-minute drive away for them in Glendale. After dropping Evelyn off at school we went straight to the temple and caught the small crowds early in the morning. Oh, it is such a beautiful temple, and very thrilling to be there. The spirit was so strong, I was in tears before we even made it in the temple. It's so wonderful to have this 3rd temple in the Phoenix, Mesa, Gilbert area to bless the saints and people there.

Every foundation stone that is laid for a Temple, and every Temple completed . . . , lessens the power of Satan on the earth, and increases the power of God and Godliness, moves the heavens in mighty power in our behalf, invokes and calls down upon us the blessings of the Eternal Gods, and those who reside in their presence. [“The Logan Temple,” Millennial Star 39, no. 46 (12 November 1877): 743]

On Halloween afternoon, Meredith gave Hudson a cute haircut. Watching a video on his Mom's phone helped keep him somewhat still. She does a great job with those haircuts.

We sent Bryan some pictures of these adorable kids before they headed out the door to go trick-or-treating in 87-degree weather that night.

Other activities included several visits to the park to enjoy their lovely fall weather. We attended the Stake Conference Broadcast and I was glad Meredith could attend the Saturday evening session. Sunday afternoon we walked around their beautiful apartment grounds. Evelyn wore her winter coat as it was a balmy low 70-degrees. This dip in the temperature was the coldest it had been for many, many months. Just 2 days before it was 95 and hot! 

I enjoyed being at Meredith's ultrasound appointment where they checked the anatomy. I was juggling Christian and Hudson, but they were good boys. We are grateful everything looks healthy, and they confirmed that she is definitely having a girl.

Having lunch with Evelyn one day was a special treat. That afternoon I picked her up from school and as we were walking to the car I said, "This has been such a wonderful day for me. I got to have lunch with you and now I got to pick you up." She stopped walking and threw her arms around me and gave me the biggest hug. My heart melted. What a sweetheart. She's a good help to her Mommy.

I took several hours on Monday afternoon to go to Sun City to give a Reliv presentation at the home of one of our distributors, Lou Mello. I love sharing hope with others and I seemed to be immediate friends with her guests.

I am so impressed with each of our children and what good parents they are to their children. Meredith prepares nutritious meals and snacks, always takes her children out everyday for an activity, often jogging, pushing the stroller and the two oldest riding their bikes, walking Evelyn to and from school, she stays connected to family and friends, and manages amazingly well with Bryan away so much. Not only that, but she is a pioneer woman, changing her own stroller tires and putting in new inner tubes. She is such a faithful, sweet devoted daughter. We are blessed!

Fun times with the Vance Family

I haven't kept up with all of the activities this year, so this is going to be a post with some random pictures with the Vance Family from birthday parties, to track meets, to flag football games. 

We celebrated Julia's 9th birthday along with Kaeley's 3rd birthday in Sept.

I was with Meredith's family for Halloween, so Dad made the rounds of going to the Vance's for dinner and Trick-or-Treating with their kids, and then on to Portland to see our cute Caudle grandchildren while they were still in their costumes.

After our family reunion in August, Seth & Tiffany's boys were with us for about a week. We enjoyed fun times with the Vance's and the Caudle's at OMSI, swimming, and a day at Blue Lake Park.

The end of March we celebrated Bryson's 6th birthday, Gary's birthday (April 3rd) and my birthday (April 4th). Sydney & Julia are becoming great cooks! I loved, loved, loved the apple spice cake they made especially for my birthday. Oh...yum!

We celebrated Easter at the Vance home and with the Caudle's. The children had a fun Easter egg hunt in the backyard. 

I tended the Vance children in May while Gary & Ondalynn spent the day in Seattle. They took the Amtrak train up and back and saw a Shakespearean play, too.

We enjoyed some excellent orchestra concerts that Sydney participated in. Then in June we celebrated her 11th birthday. I was glad I could attend her graduation from Elementary School where Sydney was the presenter of the names of the graduates from her class. Of course, she was the best of all, speaking loudly and clearly into the mike so everyone could hear the names. She is mature for her age and a big help to her mother. Sydney participated in Cross Country at her middle school this fall and we had fun watching her race, along with being on the swim team this summer, she is in excellent shape and stamina. She qualified for Districts in Cross Country and did very well!

Going back to school is always exciting. These cute kids warm my heart.

Sydney and Julia were able to fly with their Mom to Arizona this spring to visit Grandma Lewis and Meredith's family. They had a special trip together. Gary took Bryson this fall to Utah to spend time on the campus and most of all to see a BYU game. He was a lucky boy to meet Taysom Hill right before the game! They had a fun family gathering with Emily & Bronson, and with the Johns family.

On November 8th, Ondalynn's birthday, I met their family at Bryson's flag football game, the final game of the season. Gary was his coach again this year. You could tell that the boys and the parents really like Gary. Many were asking at the end if he would be coaching again next year as they wanted their son to be on his team. We're so happy we can live close to this cute family and see these darling children grow and develop and be such great kids. We wish we had this opportunity with all of our children and grandchildren.