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

After Christmas events and Open House

After Christmas we hurried to prepare for Crismon and Danielle who were arriving Tues. evening, Dec. 27th. Emily's Christmas gift to me was helping me hang pictures in our home. We hadn't put up many since we had painted a few years ago and I was very anxious to have them up. She spent hours working with me and I love the results. Julia's gift was printing out updated pictures of the family, putting them in protective sleeves and posting on the refrigerator. This is a wonderful blessing to me! I love surrounding myself with pictures of our family! It was lots of fun having Danielle & Crismon here for a few days before the Open House. We attended a temple session on Wed. evening. Then on Thurs. afternoon and evening the Caudle's and Vance's came for dinner and a concert by Danielle. She played a few pieces for us (she's amazing!) and then a few of the children performed as well. Another fun time with family.

Sweet Danielle sharing her talents with us.

Cute Julia performing for the family.

Emily delights us with her clogging.

Dec. 30th was not only Crismon's 63rd birthday, but BYU won at the last second, 24-21 over Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl, which gave Crismon what he wanted for his birthday. Dad, Julia and the Vance's watched the game at the Bowles home in Happy Valley. Emily was so good to spend the day with me decorating for the Open House that night. It was a full day! Scott and Laurie Swain arrived that afternoon and came to our home for dinner. Then off to the Open House!

Cathy Hansen about to tackle changing this Institute Room.

The sign-in table in the foyer area. The video was playing here, too.

The Institute building transformed into an elegant event. 

Music area representing Danielle's life.

We were happy to introduce Danielle & her parents to our friends.

Wedding pictures display

Lovely display of refreshments

Yummy homemade Cheesecakes

Decorations borrowed from friends made it easy for me.

Julia & Sydney helped clear tables.

Friends Joyce Betita and Cathy Hansen. Cathy worked the miracle with her
talents by doing all the flower arrangements and the bulk of the decorating,
along with Cindy Hansen and Dorinda Yates.

Alisha Christiansen did all the food and refused to
let me pay her for her services.

My sister, Kathi, with Ondalynn 

Julia Vance, Julia and Emily were great help with this event.

Brett, Vivienne & Kaeley at the Open House.

I couldn't have done this Open House without wonderful friends who pitched in and spent hours helping me pull it together. We were greatly blessed by their service. We opened gifts at our home later, helped pack Crismon and Danielle's bags, and got them off to the airport for their 7:40 a.m. flight the next morning. I was glad to have Sat. morning to visit with Kathi. We greatly appreciate the support of many family and friends that came to the wedding, reception, Open House and showered us with their love and support through generous gifts as well.

Christmas with family

Returning home from the wedding we had just a week to get ready for Christmas. It was a whirlwind of activity. I appreciate sweet daughter, Meredith. who did some of my shopping for me online. There was popcorn treats to be made and delivered to neighbors and friends, there was work to do on our business, the Open House to prepare for and all the details and fun of the Christmas season. We are so happy to have the Vance's and the Caudle's close by to enjoy at these holiday events. Christmas Eve we spent with the Vance's. Ondalynn prepared a delicious meal, then a sweet program where we wrote what gift we wanted to give the Savior that coming year. The Vance's gave their traditional gift of a new book for each of the children and they presented us with the one Pres. Monson mentioned in the Christmas Devotional, "The Mansion." 

Christmas Eve dinner at the Vance's

We gave a few small gifts to the children. The girls were especially excited to receive the necklaces I made at the "Sister's Retreat."

Julia, Sydney and Bryson anxious for Christmas Day!

We loved having Julia and Emily home for Christmas. There is always something fun happening when they are here. We woke up Christmas morning to a "Winter Wonderland." Emily had stayed up late making snowflakes and posting signs. So fun!

 

"What did Santa bring me?!?"

Our Christmas before gifts were opened.

Daisy posing with her new jewelry

Our best Christmas gift, Kaeley!

Clark loves his Mommy.

Julia, Emily and Sydney acting out the Nativity

We invited one of the YSA to join us for our Christmas dinner who didn't have family to be with. We played some games later with the children and enjoyed a wonderful day together.

Bryson & Clark, both Joseph, Julia is Mary, Kaeley, baby Jesus

I loved having Christmas on Sunday. Isn't that the perfect day for Christmas? Our ward combined with the Columbia River Ward. Crismon spoke and gave the most wonderful talk. A sister came up to me afterwards and said, "Christmas began with the gift of his talk." It was a tender meeting as their Bishop spoke, too. He had just suffered a serious eye injury during a youth activity 2 weeks before and had to have eye surgery. The ward has been praying for a miracle that his sight in that eye will return.