Hints of Spring

Last Sunday was our Fast & Testimony Meeting. Crismon bore his testimony and shared how he had recently visited with a friend who was worried that America wasn't going to make it. He shared his lack of faith in the upcoming generation of young people. As Bishop, Crismon bore a strong testimony of the great youth among us. He told the young people, "He isn't around you, the Young Single Adults as I am." His message of hope went along with the SS lesson that day from 2 Ne. 1:5 where it talks about America being a land of promise, "which is choice above all other lands; a land which the Lord God hath covenanted with me (Lehi) should be a land for the inheritance of my seed."

One by one, the YSA's stood to bear their testimonies, each one spoke of truth, faith, courage, answers to prayers, the power of the scriptures in their lives, and their love for the Gospel. We have seen the lives of these young people grow as they have turned their hearts to the teachings of the Savior. The testimonies progressed without any pauses, with some waiting on the stand. Our hearts rejoiced in the spirit of the meeting. We love this sweet privilege of working with them. The FHE activity was a service project for the Institute Building, scrubbing tables and chairs. Many turned out and had fun working together.

Our home is pretty quiet with just the two of us. We do pretty much the same things week after week. Most of all we work our Reliv business, but there is still the usual activities of grinding wheat and making homemade wheat bread. I often make a pot of soup, or beans, but I cook like I did when we were bursting at the seams with children. It's still hard for me to change that.

Fortunately there are darling grandchildren in our area to visit and enjoy. Friday evening Dad and I tended the Vance children so Ondalynn and Gary could get a well deserved date together. We had fun playing "Apples to Apples" with the children. Isaac is totally attached to Grandpa whenever he's around. We called Bryan (Williams) to wish him a Happy Birthday. It was cute, Julia said, "When you were at our house you told the BEST stories."

Bryson, Sydney, Julia, Isaac and Grandpa Lewis

Saturday morning Crismon attended the Worldwide Leadership Broadcast from SLC with our General church leaders. We are privileged to be taught by Apostles of God. We took advantage of a the sunshine, despite the cold, and worked in the yard trimming trees, plants, and racking leaves, etc. There were buds bursting forth that gave us hope that spring is on its way. The Azaleas outside our front door are usually among the first to bloom. The crocuses push their way through the cold, wet earth to show their beauty. Little sprinkles of color our most welcomed.

Dad worked hard trimming the many branches of this tree in our back yard. He was surprised that he could hold his arms up the entire time without resting off and on as he use to. Extra Reliv drinks throughout the day have helped him have more endurance. Our neighbors planted pine trees years ago that now, unfortunately, are blocking much of our view. We have a small window to see off in the distance to the Portland area.

Trip to Utah for Micah & Wes' Wedding

I loved being in the temple with family and to witness the sealing of two choice, worthy young people begin a new family by the sealing power of the Priesthood. Witnessing the sealing of Micah Smith (Roger & Andrea's dau.) to Weston Curtis was just such an event. Don't they look perfect for each other?

Micah & Wes Curtis married in the Logan temple 2/2/12

Radiant Couple, Sweethearts for the last 5 years

 We gathered with much excitement to celebrate the marriage of this cute couple. Considering it was the first of Feb. in Logan, the weather could have been much colder.

Sisters! Fun day with Meredith

Kassidy & Sierra Smith, Kysha & David Dymock, McKenzie Smith

Peggy, Jamie, Garrett & Alisha, Becca & Jessica Smith

Andy, Delaney, Corbin and (Benson) cousin

A lovely luncheon was held at the Bluebird Restaurant in downtown Logan. Since Micah & Wes dated several years before his mission, there were many pictures on the video of their lives growing up together. They both love to ski, and many pictures were on Beaver Mountain skiing.

I enjoyed sitting with Grandma Julia, Meredith & Norman Ashton

Norene and Randy were great hosts, picking me up at the airport, letting me spend the night and taking me with them to Logan. I loved being with them and getting caught up on their lives, especially the upcoming wedding of their daughter, McKenzie.

Norene & Randy Smith

Ever smiling Julie, was delightful to visit with as she juggled her children, kept them feed and entertained, and was happy through it all.

Julie Jensen with Grant and Abby

 Geoff & Peggy were good to help decorate for the reception (along with Randy & Norene) after the luncheon. Service is their middle name.

Geoff & Peggy Smith

Beautiful sisters Jamie, Jessica, and Becca

Alisha & Garrett still newlyweds

Grandma Julia opened her home to us in between events and was good to feed us dinner. A beautiful reception was held in the Skyroom on the USU campus. It brought back memories of 37 years ago when our reception was held in the same place. A wonderful evening with family and friends.

Vivienne Lewis, Roger & Andrea Smith

A welcome sight at the reception was Alice-Anne & Gary's family. I loved having Kenna and Spencer run over to give me a big hug!

Kenna with Grandma Lewis and Elliot

Cute Mommy Alice-Anne with Elliot

Skyler and his girlfriend Haley

I drove home with Alice-Anne's family that night and had two fun days with them. Elliot is irresistible.

Elliot at 9 months

Watching my daughters in action as Mommies is a joy! Alice-Anne's day included reading time with Spencer.  Before that, she had walked to school with Kenna, and then ran home in time to get ready to hurry back to volunteer in Kenna's class for her Valentine Party.

Listening to Kenna share about each Valentine....

I  couldn't resist the gorgeous day to go for a brisk walk with Kenna & Spencer to a nearby school. They raced the fields and ran up and down the slopes. Wish I would have remembered my camera. My favorite part of the day was bathing the children, reading scriptures with them, prayers, and then a sweet book on "I Love You This Much." Probably not the correct title, but now we hug each other and say, "I love you infinity plus a million."

Grandma Lewis with Elliot, Kenna & Spencer

Sat. noon, Crismon & Danielle and Emily arrived for lunch and visiting. A bonus to see family! Alice-Anne & Gary have been downloading family videos from VHS tapes to DVD's. Each Sat. they start the process going and it was fun to see them playing throughout the day.

Emily with Spencer & Kenna

Crismon & Danielle brought a DVD of their wedding pictures and we enjoyed seeing them and visiting about their classes. Danielle recently auditioned for the Masters program at BYU and she auditions at U of U this weekend. Crismon is volunteering in the Wasatch School District to help elementary students with Chinese.

Happy newlyweds, Crismon & Danielle

I appreciated them taking me to the airport before they returned to BYU. Emily always adds a spark of fun to every visit. So glad to be with our cute daughter.

Emily, freshman at BYU with Mom

Always wonderful to go and visit, but how great to come home to my good husband, Crismon. He worked so hard while I was gone with our business and he put on a Networking Luncheon earlier in the day with some help from others. We ended the day watching some of "Downton Abby." Thank you everyone who took care of me while I was on my trip. A special thanks to the Johns' who open their home to all of us, treat us to delicious meals (Gary made a batch of yummy homemade bread), and keep us smiling with the cute things their children do and say. Life is beautiful!

Weekend Events

Our Friday night date was to the Concordia Girl's BB game against Oregon Tech. Brittany Yates, a senior, was baptized a year ago, and she along with two other LDS girls are on the team. Some other young people from our ward were there to cheer them on.

YSA from the Mt. Hood Single's Ward 

Our Sat. included, Reliv Networking Luncheon, a short visit to the Caudle's, VT and HT visits, and Crismon attended the Mt. Hood Boys BB game, a young man in our ward plays, and another one is the assistant coach. Crismon taught the YSA's about Family History in our 5th hour combined RS and Priesthood Mtg. The young people were asked to bring their laptops and then many were able to get on line and do the "create a fan" where you can see the work that has been done on your ancestors. I was glad I could also attend the Cherry Park Ward's Sacrament Meeting to hear Vivi and Brett speak in the ward they were leaving. They were excellent talks and I couldn't believe how good their children were. All three made it through without making a sound! Grandma Caudle and I had it easy.

Grandma Esther's Paintings

As we look forward to the Lewis Reunion this summer Grandma Lewis has asked who had some of Grandma Esther's paintings. The family want to make a record of all the paintings that are out there. I gathered the paintings we had in our house, did the measurements, looked for any additional information that might be on the back. Just doing that little project made me feel a little closer to sweet Grandma Esther that I grew to love when we lived next door in the early days of our marriage. We moved into her cute little home on Portland St., next to the big green house. She was a talented artist and it's wonderful we have these reminders of her. Connecting with our ancestors warms the heart. These are the paintings we have.

30" x 24"

On the back "Crismon & Vivienne 1974"

39" x 32"

Crismon's dream of where he'd like to have a cabin,
Grandma drew his dream.

26" x 21"

On the back "Crismon from Grandma Esther Lewis, Christmas 1971"

30" x 24"

Hung in our living room for many years. Superstition Mtn.

30 x 22"

 I wanted to post this picture of one of my favorite plants. It is right on the side of my chair in the living room. I see it everyday, many times a day. But to my great surprise the other day I saw that it was drooping terribly. I had neglected it right before my eyes. All of a sudden it showed how thirsty it was for nourishment. Sometimes in our busy lives we neglect people, loved ones, or "things" that are right in front of our eyes. We are around them all the time but fail to recognize their need for some extra love and attention. I hope I can remember to nourish those I love.

I was glad I could help Vivi the last couple of days to finish cleaning her apt. that they had moved out of. She is such a hard working, busy Mom. It was a joy to work along side with her and help her finish this project. Best of all, was seeing cute Kaeley and Clark and Daisy briefly after school and Joy School was over.

Temple, Caudle's moving day

Tues. evening, the 17th we attended a temple session before our Stake Chapel Session. I love being in the temple, and the joy seems even greater when you are there with friends who have blessed your life. It's a blessing to have the temple close to enjoy. Dad attended the temple last night with our YSA. I enjoyed caring for the Vance children while Ondalynn & Gary were in the temple on Fri. night. Dad spoke at the Institute Building for the "Friday Forum" for the YSA's. He's a great teacher.

Portland OR Temple

Earlier in the week we had snow and then it immediately warmed up and rained hard and lot of wind. This meant severe conditions for many with flooding, trees down and nature did it's natural pruning of trees including our dogwood tree in our front yard. We've had some minor water leaks in our basement this week, but things are much better now. We are reminded of our blessings, as many have suffered from flooding.

Brett's Dad recently underwent triple bypass heart surgery. Because he is unable to work at this time, Vivi and Brett felt the need to reach out and be of assistance to his parents during this difficult struggle. Yesterday Dad and I, along with Gary V. and Sydney, and Brett's brothers, helped them move and get settled into Dave & Diane Caudle's home, located about a 5 minute drive from their old apt. This is such a great blessing to the Caudle's and we surely admire Vivi and Brett for giving up their own comfortable apt., scaling down on their belongings, and moving into a smaller place. They leave behind friends, church callings, and other desires to be of service to family in need. It was a joy to help this good family yesterday. We know they will be blessed for their service.

Vivi, Brett, Clark, Daisy & Kaeley - a loving, serving  family

Our RS lesson today was taken from President Uchtdorf's talk "You Matter to Him," from the October 2011 Conf. Although I've heard it several times, it's one you can hear over and over and be inspired by.  He reminds us of our nothingness and yet we are everything to God. May we always remember, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1 Corinthians 2:9

I delighted in hear from Seth tonight and talking briefly with Jackson, Addison, Preston and Asher. I was looking at Addison's baptism program the other day and saw that Jackson accompanied everyone on the piano. Grandpa said he did very well. We love hearing from our family. Others called or texted while we were at the "Bishop's Discussion Night." Life is wonderful......

Disney Dream Cruise!

We were surprised to receive a fun anniversary gift. We learned Monday night that we had placed 15th in sales for the Reliv company during Nov. and Dec. and earned a cruise on the Disney Dream! We leave on April 19th for a four-day, three-night Bahamian cruise. We had a terrific time last year on this same ship with some wonderful Reliv Distributors.

Clark's birthday, snow, our anniversary

We still can't get over how amazing it is to have two of our daughters close by! We never get enough of our grandchildren. Sunday evening we were happy to have the Vance's and the Caudle's join us to celebrate Clark's 5th birthday. He is growing up so quickly! As you can see below, he was thrilled with his "Thomas the Train Cake." I enjoyed play "Duck, Duck, Goose"with the little ones before they left.

Clark Caudle's 5th birthday. 

Bryson, Sydney, Clark, Julia, and Daisy all ready for a piece of Clark's cake.

Isaac is a "charmer!" 

We got snow for the first time this week.

Our 37th Wedding Anniversary landed on a busy Monday. We both worked on our business all day and then Dad left for interviews in the evening. When he returned he surprised me with roses and I surprised him with a homemade apple pie. True love! Then on Tues. a box arrived from our children filled with 37 envelopes. Inside each one are special memories that each of the children wrote. It's been like opening a treasure box as we have  laughed and cried over their memories. Time is the most precious gift, and so we especially appreciate this most thoughtful gift orchestrated by Emily. 

Dad's favorite apple pie, roses for me, and memories from our children.

In love for 37 years and more to come...

More in love than ever.....

Crismon & Vivienne in love for "Time and All Eternity."

What does 37 years bring....9 children, 19 grandchildren, 4 homes, 4 states, work, fun, service, joy, family, and much, much more! 

I look forward to eternity with this wonderful man of my dreams. His life revolves around making me happy. I love him dearly. One of the sweetest, recent memories for us was seeing 6 of our children and their spouses (except two) all lined up sitting together in the temple as Crismon and Danielle knelt across the altar to be married for time and all eternity. What a glorious sight. This truly was heaven on earth. Our cup is full. Julia and Emily are temple worthy and often attend to do baptisms. We express our great love and appreciation to you wonderful children for making your parents so very, very happy! We love you!

Our Family at Crismon & Danielle's Wedding

New Year's Eve

The Vance's came the afternoon of the 31st for the "party" to begin. The girls all went on a walk, Bryson and his Daddy went for haircuts, then the girls treated each other to frozen yogurt. After dinner the games began, while Dad and I attended the YSA Regional Dance in downtown Portland. We didn't stay too long so we could enjoy our family at home. It was so much fun to ring in the New Year together! The Vance's stayed the night. Julia and Emily flew back to Utah the next morning. Randy's family was good to pick them up at the airport and then they joined the Smith Family for a Wedding Celebration for Crismon and Danielle that afternoon and evening. Thank you Smith's for the wonderful evening! Wish we could have been there, too. It sounded so fun!

Welcome 2012
Emily, Julia, Dad, Mom, Ondalynn, Bryson, Gary, and Sydney