Fall Highlights

In September we celebrated Julia's 12th birthday Kaeley's 6th birthday and Brett's birthday.

Two weeks after returning from October Conf. it was our Stake Conf. Crismon was extremely busy preparing for the conference, along with his 3 talks. We didn’t have a visiting authority this time. Our prayers were answered, and there was a rich outpouring of the spirit in our meetings that weekend. The next day was a beautiful fall day and Crismon and I took a break and drove to a new park that has opened in Gresham. We ate our lunch there and enjoyed a lazy day of driving around seeing the beautiful fall colors. A much needed break after Stake Conference.

The following Friday, Uncle Norman flew to Portland to stay with us until Tues. afternoon. He was a joy to have. We enjoyed the many interesting stories he had to share. We spent time on Family Search, attending a temple session, driving to see some of the sights in downtown Portland, and the Gorge, enjoying the BYU Ballroom Dancers perform, and taking walks on the trail, etc. Many of his mannerisms reminded me of Grandma Lewis, so it was fun to be reminded of her.

Other events this month included attending Sydney's orchestra concert, Primary Programs, the Lion King production in Eugene where Addison had a lead part as Talome, and Preston participated in the other parts. They both did so well, and it was great fun to see it. We arrived early enough in the afternoon to drive directly to the University to hear Seth in a presentation about "Fake News." He is on the know of this new media news and he was very professional in his presentation. Emily & Bronson hosted the Lewis’ in the BYU area for a gathering that Myreel & Larry planned on the 29th with dinner and visiting. Crismon participated in community service projects and many of the ward's service projects in the stake. I have been very busy trying to organize our family letters. Crismon loves the apples in the fall, and we worked together making lots of applesauce in our Instant Pot. We enjoy staying busy with our temple service, and other responsibilities. Life is grand! The Gospel’s true!

 

Summer Highlights

This month we had the amazing experience of witnessing the Total Solar Eclipse. We were fortunate to live so close to the path of totality. Warnings for weeks were out about the biggest traffic congestion ever in this area. The morning of the eclipse, the roads didn’t look too bad, so we ventured out, heading to Silverton by some back roads through Estacada. We passed many people along the way, preparing to see the eclipse in many parking lots and open fields. Gratefully, we were able to find a good spot to pull over and watch the incredible heavenly phenomenon, as the moon took bites out of the sun until it was completely covered. It was amazing to feel the temperature drop and have everything go dark, a metallic kind of dark, but not completely dark. Cheers from people off in the distance could be heard. For nearly two minutes we could feel this eerie kind of stillness and calm, and see a bright ring around the darken sun. An absolutely amazing event in our lives. It seemed so unreal to have it start getting light so quickly, the traffic and noise began again, and then to face the traffic going home, but it was definitely worth it! What I loved the most was that our country was unified that day in the wonder of this glorious world and we were all focused on the heavens together.

Other events of the month included hosting Seth & Tiffany’s family, and some of Tiffany’s family as they gathered for their Gee Family reunion for several days. We love this good Gee family. We were happy they could borrow one of our cars for several weeks. We enjoyed picking Corwin and Lynette up at the airport and going to dinner for our last time to visit with them before they left on their mission. Hunter & Courtney stayed with us one evening on their way to Eugene. We’ve had several sleep-overs with grandchildren and spending some fun time with our Caudle family. We took them one afternoon to a water park and had so much fun with them. Crismon also helped out in mnay service projects in the area. Life is great!

Crismon picked blueberries with Ondalynn's children. I was so happy to get my freezer full again with yummy blueberries for my smoothie all year long. Crismon has also done a lot of community service.

Jackson (15), stayed with us for a couple of weeks as he had an internship with Brett Caudle’s Tech Academy. Jackson has studied coding on his own. It was quite amazing to hear how well he did. They nicknamed him “The Dr.” as he was able to solve problems with their website that others couldn’t. It was a very successful experience for him. All our family is doing well, busy doing good things for which we are so grateful.

Preston ordained a Deacon

We love living close enough to be with Seth's family for important events. Preston was ordained a Deacon on August 13th. It was nice to have Preston & Janice there, too. We are proud of this fine grandson. We are glad that Clark could go down with us to so he could witness this event. 

Visiting Dallin's Family in Virginia

This summer is whizzing by. We have been with family the entire month of July, which we love. Meredith and her children were here for 3 weeks and returned home to Hawaii the middle of July. Emily & Bronson visited for a few days after being with his family in Astoria for his brother’ Mission Homecoming. Gratefully, that time overlapped with Meredith here.

We headed to Virginia a few days later to be with Dallin & Janelle and their beautiful girls for a week. We had a delightful stay with them. Our days were filled with fun going swimming, to the park, playing baseball, etc. One day we toured Jefferson’s Monticello, which was fascinating. A special treat was being with them when they found the home they were looking for. It was in a perfect location, with a huge backyard, and just right for their family. Their offer was accepted. Now we will be able to visualize them in their new home. While we were there, they finished reading the Book of Mormon together as a family. That was so fun to celebrate with them with milkshakes.

Dallin is “Mr. Mom” for 6 weeks this summer while Janelle begins her Masters Program in Speech Pathology. She was accepted into James Madison University. She’s able to do it online. Dallin is so capable of being Mr. Mom. He bakes the best Artisan bread, homemade pizza, and can make many great meals. He organizes the grocery list and purchasing, and keeps things running, except Janelle didn't want to turn over the laundry. He takes the girls to the community pool everyday and they have a terrific time doing that.

Dorothy and the girls performed many songs for us, and they had choreographed them so cute, too. Dorothy was in the Music Man early in late spring, so they performed many of her songs and dances. They are so cute and so very creative in their play. They don't need to watch videos or play with our IPads as they do so many make believe stories or play they are very well self contained. Because of that they could be in that tiny house. The girls would haul in their blocks, dress up clothes, miniature animals, etc. in to the living room while Gwen would nap and they could play in the living room for hours with their make believe. It was also fun to see how much they would sing all the time, while they did the dishes, cleaned up, driving in the car, and at almost any moment. They are adorable!

We hated to say goodbye to this cute family. Although we were all in their tiny 800 square foot home, we managed really well and my legs weren't nearly so tired from not walking too much. We had a nice drive up the mountain to the Appalachian Trail, and did a short hike on Monday evening. Norah drew a picture of me right before we left. She is quite the artist! Norah was devastated to have us leave. Ruby took it in stride and said, "Well, at least we don't have to close the bathroom door anymore when we go to the bathroom."

We drove to Richmond to stay with Janelle's cousin, Lexie in their lovely home. Then early the next morning, we flew from VA to Chicago for the Reliv Conference, then home after 10 days. Dallin purchased our tickets and he was able to put us on 1st class flying home from Chicago to Portland. It was a dream of a trip! We've never enjoyed such luxury on a flight before and it was wonderful!