Thanksgiving 2018 in Eugene, OR

Thanksgiving was our highlight of the month. We loved having Julia, Austin & baby Dallin here, arriving in the afternoon on Tuesday and Crismon & Danielle later that evening. Emily & Bronson were able to connect with Crismon & Danielle at the Denver airport as they happened to be there at the same. Emily & Bronson flew to Boise for his Gardner Reunion.

Wed. was a busy baking day, and then the two couples drove down to Eugene later that day. Seth & Tiffany were hosting this year. Many participated in the Turkey Trot that morning in Springfield, and then swimming at the Splash Center. We arrived Thanksgiving day, as did the Vance’s and Caudle’s. It was also Vivienne & Brett’s 13th Anniversary and Isaac’s 8th birthday. We celebrated those events, had a family gathering where we shared what we were particularly grateful for this year, played games, went on walks, and many fun activities together on Thursday and Friday.

 

Seth booked us a hotel for Thanksgiving night, which was so helpful as their were 28 of us at Seth’s house, along with Tiffany’s sister, Katherine, Matt and two little girls. It was fun to see Joseph and several of his children Thanksgiving evening, when they came over to visit. Then Friday morning Joseph and seven of the children came while Leslie was shopping. They are adorable children!

Saturday afternoon we had scheduled a family baptism session. We loved being in the temple with Ondalynn, Gary, Sydney, and Julia Vance. Also, Seth, Jackson, Addison, and Preston, with Jackson doing some of the baptizing. Crismon & Danielle were also participating, and we kept busy doing about 35 family names. We love having family close enough to gather for these special occasions.

Julia & Austin left for home on Saturday early afternoon, after returning from Eugene. Being together as a family, and having time to love our newest grandchild, Dallin, is such a great blessing. Crismon & Danielle flew home early the next morning on Sunday. They made it home in time to attend their church meetings. Amazing!

Fall is in the Air

We didn’t go to Salt Lake for General Conference this October, but we loved having Julia, Austin and baby Dallin come down from the Seattle area to be with us. It was especially nice to have Julia come a few days earlier on the Amtrak train to spend some time before conference. Ondalynn, Vivi, Julia & Crismon did temple sealings together one morning while I tended Dallin in the car. We love these special times together. We enjoyed listening to the last session of General Conference at the Vance's. It also gave us an opportunity to celebrate Kaeley's 7th birthday on Sept. 22, and Daisy's 10th birthday on October 9th. Dallin was a hit wherever we went. He's so cute! The last picture was taken the end of October. He grows so quickly!

We were greatly inspired by the wonderful messages from our dear Prophet and all the General Authorities. Exciting changes were made with more emphasis placed on the home for teaching the Gospel to our children. The reduction to a 2-hour worship service on Sunday will help families to spend more time together learning the Gospel. Crismon and his counselors are encouraging parents to prepare their children for the ordinances and to teach them to serve.

Ondalynn & Gary went on a 9-day trip to Rome & Paris during the middle of October. We stayed with their children. It was a busy time as one weekend was our stake conference. We didn’t have a visiting authority, so we were able to work it out. This was a complete surprise for Ondalynn. It has been a dream trip for the two of them. Gary planned and prepared every detail of the trip and schedule for the children. Ondalynn was told less than 48 hours before they left! Saturday afternoon of our stake conference, I brought the three Vance boys to our house. I got a "boy" babysitter for them, and I was able to attend our conference. Then they stayed the night and went with me to our Sunday morning conference. That afternoon, they loved having their Caudle cousins come over to visit and play with them. It was great to see Clark be so talkative with Bryson, Viv, and me at the table after the other children left. I don't know when I've heard him share so much, so it was great.

We went to down to Eugene on Friday, Oct. 26th for Preston’s musical “Mary Poppins,” that evening. It was tremendous. We were so impressed with the quality of these middle school age children. It was a community production, so it had some great choreography, acting, singing, and sets. We spent the night and came home early afternoon on Sat. We picked Seth up at the airport after his week in Seattle for meetings. We were also able to see Preston and Asher perform in a community orchestra where they performed at a hospital in their huge lobby area. I loved looking up at Seth with his arm around Asher talking with him. It was a sweet moment as Seth had been gone for a week, and this was Asher's first time seeing his Dad back.

Crismon loves the fall and the fresh apples. He buys hundreds of them each fall and it's fun to share them with others. While Viv was over one afternoon, Daisy began doing some of her gymnastics. She and Kaeley are so limber! Alice-Anne's family attended the Smith Halloween party. They always make it so fun for everyone. Grandma Julia has her arms around Spencer and Elliot.

On the last day of October, Crismon was serving in the temple and was assigned for two hours at the Recommend Desk. They had three bus loads of Mission Presidents and their wives and some General Authorities come to the temple that afternoon. Crismon was so surprised to see our good friends, David & Annette Wells, who are serving as Mission Presidents of the Arcadia, CA Mission. We made arrangements to pick them up on Sat., Nov. 3 at the Marriott in downtown Portland after their Mission Pres. Conference ended. They had some time to see some of the sites in the area before dropping them off at the airport later in the afternoon. That was a special treat for us. We are grateful for rich blessings and the joy of the Gospel and family in our lives.