Thanksgiving with Family

We love having family come for the holidays. This year it has been such a special treat to have Dallin & Janelle's family in Spokane so they can finally be with us for these special family occasions. Emily & Bronson came for several days before Thanksgiving and we had so much fun having them here, too. Janelle's sister, Elise joined us as her mom and Scott are on their mission. I loved seeing the sweet love that Janelle and Elise have for each other.

We celebrated Isaac's 5th birthday with many of the family in town at the Vance's. It was a treat to have Crismon & Danielle here for the holidays, too. Thanksgiving day was delightful with such delicious food to enjoy, and Sydney organized the children in a fun Pilgrim skit. We put up our tree right after Thanksgiving and the little girls loved being able to decorate it. 

Spencer's Baptism

Thanks to Southwest points and a companion pass where I can fly with Dad for free until the end of 2016, we were able to make a quick trip to Utah for Spencer's baptism. We're grateful it wasn't the same time as our Hawaii trip so we could be there with the Johns family for this special event. The children are always so loving. They make us feel so welcomed. Alice-Anne and Gary always provide such delicious meals. Their homemade wheat bread is a favorite. Gary made a batch that morning before going to work. Wow! We felt like royalty with such treatment. Then Alice-Anne knew our weakness with an amazing apple crisp for dessert. Yum!

We had scriptures and prayers with the children and then we visited my cousin, Alice Ann Weber and her husband, Eldon in North Salt Lake City area. They are such great people and we had a very interesting evening listening to her many stories about her experience as a secretary for many of the General Authorities. She presently is a secretary for Wilford Anderson who she said is a tremendously hard worker.

Friday, Alice-Anne took the children out of school and we went to Thanksgiving Point. We had never been there before, but the Johns knew fun places to visit and see. The Museum of Natural Curiosity was amazing. We experienced what it was like to be in a tornado (well, sort of), a town square just for children with interesting shops of things to do and see, and the list goes on! Afterwards we let the children play outside, although it was quite cold, they didn't mind as they kept busy running, swinging and climbing. Grandpa treated us to pizza for a late lunch.

Later that afternoon was the Primary Sacrament Program rehearsal at the church. We felt badly that we weren't going to be there for their program on Sunday, but it was so fun to watch them practice. Spencer would sing out with all of his heart, Elliot would make a thousand faces, and Kenna did so well on her part, too.

Friday night was busy with preparations for the baptism. Alice-Anne and Gary cleaned their home and prepared many yummy treats. They are such hard workers! We assisted some as we could. We watched the BYU game against San Jose, with a close win for BYU. 

The baptism was on Saturday morning, Nov. 7th. It turned out so nicely. Many of the Johns family were there, too. The program was put on by one of the wards in the stake. The two Grandpa's were witnesses. We loved watching sweet Spencer and his beaming face the entire time. He was so happy.

Afterwards, everyone went to the Johns home for a delicious brunch. Not only was it deciduous, but so beautifully displayed. It was fun to have Emily and Bronson there, too. Our weekend went by far too quickly, but we were grateful we could witness the baptism of this wonderful grandson, Spencer, and spend time with our amazing Johns family.

Hawaii 2015 with Lewis Siblings

After we visited with Meredith's family, we flew to Kauai for Crismon's Siblings Reunion. We had such a marvelous time with all of them: Myreel & Larry (Linton), Corwin & Lynette, Dantzelle & Brad Allen, Malin & Sally, Wick & Lynn, and Delon & Clyde Pease. This reunion was made possible because of Myreel & Larry's generous offer to let us stay for free using their Marriott time share in a beautiful resort. We felt like we were in heaven just relaxing on this beautiful island, without the cares of the world, and just enjoying being together and visiting.

Brad & Dantzelle opened their condo to all of us for meals. We all pitched in on the cost of food, but we got off easy, they organized the meals, bought the food, and we just had to show up and prepare it. That kept our costs down, and we only had to pay for a few meals from other places. The Linton's were next door and so we were able to bring in some of their chairs, etc, to make it convenient. Also, some brought big electric skillets from home that made it especially nice. We were spoiled!

On Sunday we enjoyed attending the local meeting. We were welcomed with open arms and at the end of the Sacrament Meeting the members of the ward all went to the front and sang to the visitors and placed hand made leis (done by the YW with yarn) around our necks. They are such loving people! It was fun for us to run into our home teacher and his wife, Jeff & Linda Hinshaw who were also visiting the island at that time.

Each evening we had a spiritual devotional where we were taught so many inspiring things; Crismon shared some thoughts he had just shared at our stake conference from 2 Corinthians 8:9. Corwin led a family discussion on strengthening our role as parents referring us to the conference talk by Elder Bradley D. Foster, "It's Never Too Early and Never Too Late," from the Oct. 2015 conference. Dantzelle shared Brad's retirement video and presented the excellent lesson she gave in Sunday School on Hebrews. Another highlight was Clyde teaching us about Patriarchal Blessings. Wick is an incredible choir director. He led us in singing the hymns. He taught us some of the background around the hymn and then with his excellent way, he brought out of us such a beautiful sound. This was one of the highlights for me. Malin shared spiritual experiences as a Stake President and encouraged us on testifying. Larry shared his feelings on the seven most "important things" we should always do (personal and family prayers, FHE, personal and family scripture study, temple attendance and keeping the Sabbath Day holy.)

We had so much visiting many interesting sites: We drove to a spectacular view of the "Grand Canyon of Hawaii," in the Waimea Canyon. We drove out to the Lihue Lighthouse and we drove to the north shore to see the amazing Princeville Resort, learn the history of the Russians effort to colonize there, we drove to a lookout to see the beautifully laid out taro fields, drove past Lincoln Koga's childhood home close to Hanalei Bay and watched the huge waves a distance back from the beach as the beaches were closed as the waves were too high. On our return back to the hotel, we stopped at the beautiful Wailua Falls.

One afternoon we watched the GOP Presidential Debate in one of the rooms on the 12th floor, overlooking the beautiful Kalapaki Bay. One evening we watched "The Cokeville Miracle." We did some relaxing at the resort, too, enjoying the beautiful pool and hot tubs. Crismon and some of the others went snorkeling one day on Poipu Beach. We walked through the incredible Hyatt Regency Resort on Poipu Beach. Everywhere you looked, Hawaii was just spectacular! What a paradise! This was the first time Crismon and I had been to this island. It has a more relaxing feel to it, and we enjoyed the slower pace there.

We had to pack up and leave far too quickly, but we had to take a red-eye flight through the night to make it home to prepare for Church meetings on Sunday. It was the only flight that would work to get us home before Sunday. Fortunately, through credit cards that Seth helped us sign up for, we were able to fly with points, the Linton's provided the room, the cost of meals was not bad with making most of them, and then just the cost of the rental car and gas that we all shared. We were blessed! Being together as a family away from our other cares was simply delightful! We missed those who couldn't be with us.