Monumental Blessings in March

The first day of March we enjoyed a virtual tour of the Mormon Battalion Historic Site by the good sister missionaries. It was fun to visit briefly with Dantzelle and Brad at the end. We were both eligible to receive the COVID vaccine beginning March 1, but it was next to impossible to schedule one. We tried getting up at 3:45 am to log on. Our only option was an appointment in Creswell Oregon, two hours south. Gratefully, Bronson, who works for Epic, and who has been involved in the online health charts available to patients, was able to give us some clues that helped us secure an appointment in Hillsboro (50 minutes away) in a drive-through site.

March 6th was a big day as Elder Scott D. Whiting, a General Authority Seventy and member of the Area Presidency, who was connected virtually from Salt Lake, and Elder Lawerence P. Blunck, our Area Seventy, interviewed leaders in our stake to call a new stake president. Crismon was at the church house the entire time facilitating those being interviewed. He returned home in time for us to drive to Hillsboro to get our vaccine.

Sunday, March 7th, Crismon was released as the stake president of the Mount Hood Oregon Stake, after serving for nine years. He conducted the stake conference and gave a wonderful talk. I was thankful for the opportunity to bear my testimony. Tyson Pappenfuss, (36) exactly half Crismon’s age was called as our new stake president, James Anderson (our dentist, and former Bishop of the Damascus Ward) was called as the 1st Counselor, and Derek May (our former Bishop in the Walters Hill Ward), was called as the 2nd Counselor. It felt right and we gladly sustain and pray for them. Elder Blunck asked Crismon to stay after and assist him in the setting aparts, since Elder Whiting was not there. It was a sweet experience for Crismon, as it brought his service to a close. I can witness that Crismon truly served with ALL his heart, might, mind and strength. We loved this choice opportunity, and we saw the Lord’s many tender mercies and blessings in our lives.

I flew to Utah on March 9th to help Alice-Anne with her baby who at the time was 10 days late. I was excited to get the word while at the airport, that he was born that morning. It was so wonderful to be there when the children saw their little baby brother for the first time that afternoon on Zoom. We were all so surprised when they pulled his cap off and learned he was a redhead! He is definitely my grandchild.

About the time Alice-Anne and Gary were preparing to leave the hospital the next day, a nurse noticed something not right with little Oliver’s breathing. He had already been cleared to come home, but this was a tender mercy to recognize a problem. During the night he had to be moved to the NICU as his oxygen levels were dropping too low. It was a difficult week trying to determine what his problem was and how they would take care of him. Our hearts went out to Alice-Anne & Gary who had to leave the hospital without their precious baby.

Crismon flew in several days earlier than planned, on Saturday, the 13th, to help me. It was wonderful to have him there. Sunday evening, he and Gary were able to give Oliver a blessing. Alice-Anne and I sat out in the hallway of the hospital and we listened over the phone to the blessing. Sadly, I never got to see Oliver while I was there. COVID restrictions have changed many things, and this was one of them. Only the parents in the NICU, and only one parent at a time. The exception was made for the Priesthood Blessing.

After two weeks in the NICU in the hospital in Murray, Oliver was transported to Primary’s Children Hospital as he wasn’t improving. He had to have anesthesia to have an MRI, and a scope put down his throat below the vocal cords. The MRI showed no problems, but sadly, they learned that both vocal cords were paralyzed. One is partially open, but paralyzed. They are observing him over the next week or so to determine if they need to do a tracheotomy or not. They are hoping they can bring him home soon. For sure he will come home with a feeding tube directly into his stomach, and oxygen, or a tracheotomy. We have felt that he is a very special spirit, and our love and prayers go out to him, Alice-Anne and Gary constantly.

We were grateful we could be there to help the Johns during this difficult time. We enjoyed attending Spencer’s first in person band concert one evening. We were fortunate to attend the “Lamb of God Concert movie.” It was spectacular! For those of you in Utah or some areas where it is being played, we encourage you to attend.

Thanks to Zoom we were able to hear Preston and Asher’s excellent violin recital and Bryson and Paxton’s piano recital where they both did very well. It was a treat to have Durelle come by before going to the airport. She and Jasmin brought journals from Great-Grandfather Lewis’. One afternoon Janae and her three younger boys came by. It was great to visit with her. Also, all my siblings and their spouses got together for a dinner at a restaurant in West Jordan. It’s been too long since we’ve done that and we loved the chance to get caught up on their lives.

While in Utah, Julia, Austin and their 2 ½ yer-old, Dallin arrived for a mini reunion with the Doutre family. As Crismon and Danielle were also in Utah at that time, we had a nice “mini-reunion” with them. We were especially happy to see Crismon & Danielle, as it had been almost 2 years since we had seen them.

I appreciated Crismon teaching my SS class virtually. It’s amazing how you can still participate long distance.

We returned home on Tuesday, March 23rd, and then on Thursday we left for Cannon Beach for a 3-day, 2-night stay at the Inn at Haystack Rock, thanks to a Christmas gift from our children. We had a terrific time. It was cold, but the sun was shining most of the time, and we had no rain.

We are grateful for our Heavenly Father’s generous blessings. We seek a miracle for our little Oliver if it could be possible that he will not have to have a tracheotomy. We appreciate many who are praying for him, Alice-Anne and Gary, and their family.

February Freeze

We received the great news that Meredith & Bryan’s family will be moving to the Tacoma, WA area in July. Bryan will have completed his three-year fellowship at Walter Reed Hospital and will be assigned to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Madigan Army Medical Center. We are thrilled beyond words to have them just two hours away after living in Hawaii and Maryland!

Speaking of the Williams family, Meredith bravely drove her four older children alone to Orlando, FL, a full 12-hour drive, to spend several days at Harry Potter World. They had a terrific time!

Like some of you, we had a horrible snow and ice storm that dumped 9-14 inches around the Portland/Vancouver area. Gratefully, we were never without power, but many in our stake were without power for days. The weight of the ice on the trees brought many of them down, and some areas looked like a war zone with branches and limbs scattered everywhere. Our hearts went out to our loved ones in Texas that were hit by an even more devastating winter storm.

Granddaughter Sydney (Ondalynn’s oldest), was accepted to BYU with a 2-semester, full tuition scholarship. We will need to get a list of all the Lewis cousins that will be there this fall. Sydney and sister Julia are working for the city recreation center helping with soccer clinics.

Dallin’s wife Janelle is now fully licensed as a Speech Pathologist and was offered a great job in Roanoke, VA, about a 40-minute drive away. She will be working at Friendship Rehab doing intensive inpatient therapy for people immediately following stroke, traumatic brain injury, etc. Janelle will work mainly with swallowing and communication. She will also be heading the speech portion of their outpatient Parkinson's treatment program they are trying to start up.

Seth & Tiffany’s son, Addison, (Junior in HS) is working as an Economics research assistant for Harvard Economist Lant Pritchett. They’re writing a paper looking at how economies develop. HS senior Jackson (Seth & Tiffany’s oldest son) was promoted to the role of Core Developer for his job at 1Password at the beginning of February, roughly seven months since he started working at the company. This is a substantial promotion that is usually given to people who have five or more years in software development experience.

Crismon had a sweet experience serving in the temple as an ordinance worker this past week. I enjoyed teaching the Adult Sunday School class for the first time in person this month, the first time to teach in person in a year! Crismon had two Ward Conferences today. He is having the “last” of many experiences now as he will be released on March 7th.

Vivi's family helped clean up in our yard just a few weeks after our huge snow storm. Amazing how quickly the weather changed. Some of our grandchildren are still in virtual learning, and others FINALLY got to go back in person, just for a few days a week. It's been so hard for these kids to be out of school for nearly a year!

January Journey's

We made it through January with it not being too cold, and with only one afternoon of snow. Just enough for the children to play in. With school online, there is no snow days!

We’re thankful for frequent FaceTime calls from some of our grandchildren so we can literally watch them “grow up” before our eyes, especially Emily’s cute little 11-month old, Elise. They change so much in the first year of life! Speaking of the Gardners, Emily & Bronson have tackled many home projects and Emily shares them on her Instagram account, @thegardnerplace, helping others with good tips on tackling DIY (Do It Yourself) home projects, too. With work from home being a thing now, they transformed a closet into a “cloffice.” It looks great!

We are excited for daughter-in-law, Tiffany. In January, Tiffany signed with literary agent Rachel Ridout at Harvey Klinger Literary Agency for her children's book. This is something she's been working toward for more than 8 years, four manuscripts, and 103 rejection letters! The agent is now shopping her story around to editors at several publishing houses, so fingers crossed!

Vivi is recovering from her auto accident, but it will probably be a year before she’s totally recovered. Because of her Neurofibromatosis, the chiropractor said it will take longer for her than most. We gathered with the Vances to celebrate Clark’s 14th birthday. The Vances also spent the last weekend of January with Seth & Tiffany’s family in Eugene and they all hiked Spencer’s Butte.

We’re thankful for Zoom that has allowed us to enjoy some presentations that we normally wouldn’t have had. Recently, Seth gave a lecture to a group in Korea, and it was so interesting to see and hear him “in action.”

Only Alice-Anne’s children in Utah have had some form of in-person school, but we are glad that now Dallin’s girls in Virginia were able to start attending a few days a week. We’re especially thankful that Janelle has now been vaccinated. She has had to work closely with COVID patients for several months in the facility where she’s employed.

We are happy about new ordinations among our grandsons. Asher was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood to the office of a Deacon. Preston was ordained a Priest. He is now in the Priest Quorum with his two older brothers. Seth & Tiffany have their 4 sons all in the Aaronic Priesthood together. Spencer was ordained to the office of a Teacher. Clark was ordained a Teacher, and Daisy was set apart as the secretary for the Jr. Young Women’s. Evelyn (Meredith & Bryan’s daughter in Maryland) now enters the YW.

On January 20th Joseph Biden was swore in as our new President and his Vice-President is Kamala Harris, the first woman, the first African American/Asian vice-president. Definitely an historic day. It was also historic in that the former Pres. Donald

A Year of Blessings

2020 A Year of Uncertainty, A Year of Blessings

As we reflect on this most unusual year, we are reminded of many blessings that have come to us from a loving Father in Heaven, and many lessons learned.

Crismon Lewis Sr: An increased appreciation of the Sabbath Day and how it separates us from the world.

Vivienne Lewis Sr.: A greater appreciation of the Holy Ghost as I’ve felt His influence through my prayers and scripture study, and His blessing of helping me learn and remember important truths.

Ondalynn Vance: For the increase of time to spend with my family, and to enjoy a slower pace together.

Gary Vance: A appreciation for the sacrament and its sacredness that I felt through Home Church.

Sydney Vance: Learning to be more resilient. To accept disappointments and learn to handle them.

Julia Vance: Discovering new talents and interests through increased personal time.

Bryson Vance: I was able to develop a habit of reading the scriptures.

Seth Lewis: A much-needed personal and professional reboot. After nearly two decades of frenetic work life—from journalist to MBA to PhD to professor—I had a chance to reflect and reorient.

Tiffany Lewis: The year abroad helped me reset a lot of expectations and outlooks, and for that I will be forever grateful. It taught me the importance of slowing down and learning to do hard things (like drive on the left side of the road!). I'm especially grateful to be back close to our Lewis family and now that my parents moved this summer from Texas to Camas—just 2 hours away.

Alice-Anne Johns: Genuinely loved having my kids around more and thrived on the slower place. Church at home has been a favorite making our worship in many ways more meaningful, personal, and sacred.

Gary Johns: Loved creating more with home projects, and Alice-Anne and I enjoyed unique date nights.

Vivienne Lewis Jr: Spending more time with my children, reading together, learning together.

Dallin: Despite, for the past four weeks, Janelle having to work 4+ hours per day with Covid patients in her care facility, she has avoided being infected even though 80% of the patients and two thirds of the staff have contracted it. Her extra precautions and the Lord’s protection are miraculous.

Meredith Williams: With all the children in virtual school at home, there is less of a pressure in the morning to get out the door and that has led to more consistency in our family scripture time.

Crismon & Danielle Lewis: Witnessing first hand the sudden shut down of Manhattan brought on some anxiety, but also so simple pleasures like daily walks through Riverside Park and spending more time together. Virtual course work has allowed us to relocate to the warmth of living with family in Las Vegas.

Julia Doutre: I started the Brooke Snow program just 3 weeks before things shut down. I was grateful for the daily habits of taking care of myself, doing the protocol to keep myself grounded.

Emily & Bronson Gardner: Elise being born and both of us able to work from home.

REFLECTIONS ON 2020: More Highlights and Blessings

Gardners: Emily’s first baby, Elise Michelle Gardner, was born March 6, and Grandma Vivienne was able to be in the delivery room, an incredible experience. This all happened a week before the Covid shutdown, which would have prevented me from being in the hospital during the birth.

Vivienne: We had plans to fly to the East coast for Christmas to be with Meredith and Dallin’s families. But last minute we felt it not wise to travel during the pandemic. Sadly, Vivienne (Jr) and her three children were in a serious auto accident the afternoon before we would have departed for our trip. What a blessing it was for us to be here to help her with her family while she’s recovering from painful injuries. A pick up truck ran a 4-way stop and hit her minivan.

Family Chats: We’ve enjoyed more family gatherings on Zoom and noticed that more families make the extra effort to participate. It also has encouraged us to have more video conferencing with siblings, something that we seldom, if ever, did in the past.

Tiffany: Seth’s wife came down sick shortly before Christmas and tested positive for Covid. Two of their sons also came down sick. Fortunately all recovered during the holidays.

Sabbath a Delight: Where interviews and meetings are now generally held on Zoom, the Sabbath is not as hectic and we’re all home almost the entire day.

Miracles: The Vances, who recently started their own real estate development business, has seen the Lord’s miraculous hand in helping them get their business on a solid footing during a very challenging time.

Christmas Day: Because of the pandemic we felt best not to have our traditional Christmas gathering. Each family had an unusually quiet, peaceful celebration at home—a nice change from previous years.