American Mothers Convention in New York!

I feel very grateful for the opportunity to attend the American Mothers Convention in New York on April 25-27th, representing Oregon as the 2013 Oregon Mother of the Year. It was held at the incredible hotel, the Waldorf=Astoria, filled with much history, and granduear. From the minute we arrived, until the final evening we were treated so well. They did so much to make it a choice experience for all of us.

Best of all it was wonderful to get acquainted with outstanding women across the country that are God fearing, righteous women who are raising wonderful families and making a difference in their community. It was an overwhelming experience to be there.

In just a short period of time we became good friends among the Mothers , and the Young Mothers. Many tears were shed as the speeches were given. There were many heartaches that were shared, and you marveled to see the strength of these women go forward and change a tragic or sad experience into a cause to help others.

The lobby at the Waldfor=Astoria

Thursday afternoon we had an orientation, get acquainted games and we were video taped for a short interview that they played the last night when we were introduced at the big Gala Event.

Welcoming reception the first evening.

Each mother had a card with their picture and name. Then the last night we signed each others cards.

We really enjoyed getting better acquainted with Helen Bean (center). She was a National Mother of the Year in 2005, I believe. Her husband is very involved in scouting and they know Brad and Dantzelle very well. Also, he was on the planning committee of the Portland temple and they knew Myreel & Larry well. Her daughter, Charlotte Laughlin and family use to live in our stake. Francine Cowie from Vancouver was the WA Mother of the Year. Her daughter-in-law is a friend of Ondalynn's.

Francine Cowie, Helen Bean, Vivienne Lewis

The most stressful part of the whole experience was giving the three minute speech. You had to keep it within the time limit and when I memorized my speech and practiced it ahead of time I was keeping it to three minutes. But when I gave it I had no idea I was going much slower. It was such a massive room, and speaking in that setting was so new to me, and I ended up going over, but many others did, too. As I prepared for the speech, I felt prompted that I was to speak about my journey from polio as a young child, to the miracle of nine children, and the struggles of Post Polio Syndrome. Many were kind to share that it had touched their hearts. I'm grateful for Heavenly Father's help to get me through it! 

It really was a tender mercy that I was well and had a voice to speak. While in Jamaica Crismon picked up a bug and he was pretty miserable the first few days in New York. I started getting it, too. Gratefully thanks to many prayers on our behalf, I was able to pull out of it and I had energy and was strong through the entire Convention even though we had done a lot of walking site-seeing in New York. The demand of the trip caught up to me by the time I got home and put me down for a week or so. But when I needed my strength, it was there. 

Giving my speech at the Convention

Fortunately, I didn't have to pay for the Convention, but we paid the half registration so Crismon could attend the speeches, and the big Gala Event on Sat. evening. While I was busy those few days, he worked our business from the hotel room. When I got a break, then we took a much needed break to get outside and enjoy the gorgeous weather. New York looked spectacular in the sunny spring weather.

This is the room we gave our speeches. I was relieved it was over.

A treat to meet LDS Dorothy DeVore, the State Pres. from CA.

On Friday evening after niece, Laura & Wilfried Eyi, were finished with their hospital tour in preparation for their first baby to arrive shorty, they were good to take the subway and come to our hotel where we could visit for a short time. Sorry this picture didn't turn out better. Such a smart, wonderful couple! It was so fun to see them and visit for a short time.

The biggest highlight was getting acquainted with wonderful women who inspired me to be a better person, Mom, and Grandma. 

Top row, left to right: Judith Jepsen-Popel (IL), Renee Starr (CA)
Jan Schiferl (NE), Zan Hyer (NV), Vivienne Lewis (OR). Renee and Zan are also LDS.

Before the Gala Event started, we had a reception and visiting in the room behind me.

The hotel was elegant wherever you looked.

Elizabeth Caswell, OR Young Mother of the Year with her children.

Breakfast on Friday morning

The Featured Presenters were Kathie Lee Gifford, a famous television host, actress, singer, playwright, songwriter and author. She is a strong woman with a spiritual nature and devotion to God. She shared how important it is to have her daily devotion of scripture study, prayer and meditation. To meet the demands of co-host on the fourth hour of the Today Show, and not wanting to miss her devotional, she gets up an hour earlier each day so she doesn't miss the most important part of her day.

Sherrie Rollins Westin, CEO of Sesame Workshop gave an outstanding talk on the importance of mothers especially in the early years of a child's development. Again, I was impressed by her being grounded in the importance of family, and her love for her children.

Sherrie Rollins Westin and her daughter, Lily. Sesame St. CEO gave a great speech.

The few days flew by and before you knew it, the final evening arrived. Again, it was like a dream, filled with many choice and memorable experiences.

The formal Gala Event was a very special evening.

Final preparations for the big event were being made.

After the event, some of the mothers gathered for a picture. Others had already slipped out.

Judy Cook from Vineyard, UT was chosen as National Mother of the Year. She is a lovely LDS woman that will represent the Church and the American Mothers Association very well.

Reliv Trip to Jamaica

On April 17, 2013 we flew from Portland to Jamaica with a few stops along the way. There is always so much work to do before leaving town with work and church responsibilities, so we managed to get less than two hours sleep before catching our early morning flight. We were ready for some relaxation in Jamaica! During November and December of 2012, Reliv had a promotion that the top 30 distributorships in volume of sales, would earn a trip to Jamaica. 

Those two months were very busy ones for us as I was preparing for Julia's wedding the end of December, in the midst of putting my portfolio together for the American Mothers nomination, and helping Emily to begin preparing for her mission. In the middle of December we drove to BYU-I for Julia's graduation, and of course, Thanksgiving and Christmas were in there, too. 

Crismon had his hands full with many church responsibilities, too, but amazingly we were richly blessed and we happened to be #30 to earn the trip! One of the tender mercies connected with this trip was it was just before our trip to New York for the American Mothers Convention. I contacted Reliv Travel and asked if there was any way we could fly to New York, and then a week later fly home to Portland. It turned out it was all within the budget. This was wonderful that we didn't have to pay for the flight to New York and back.

There was an opening dinner together as distributors, and then a closing dinner and entertainment, but other than that we were on our own to do what ever we would like. The Montego Bay Rose Hall was so beautiful, we just enjoyed relaxing and taking advantage of the fun things they had to do there.

The "Lazy River" where the currents would just move you along and you'd end up under some of the waterfalls.

The pool and all areas where breathtaking.

Our opening night with other Reliv Distributors

Breakfast one morning with Ryan Montgomery (Pres. of Reliv) and his wife Tracee. They are wonderful, down to earth people.

Relaxing before dressing for the final dinner with LDS friends, Annette and David Wells (MN), Karen & Ron Turner (Orem, UT)

This lady was incredible putting fire in her mouth, on her legs, etc. Really amazing!

We had a very expensive ride to church Sunday morning, a 35 minutes drive, but we didn't want to miss attending our meetings as we were flying out in the early afternoon. Of course, the Jamaican members are very warm and welcoming. We filled the room with this other company of LDS tourist there that day. One sweet sister wrote her name down on a piece of paper and asked if I would put her name in the temple when I go. She didn't have any special needs, but she just wanted the blessings of the temple. Their closest temple is the Panama temple. We thought about Bryan while we were there as he served his mission in Jamaica.

 The town was quite run down. There are beautiful mansions along the countryside, but mostly poverty.

Returning to our hotel before leaving for New York.

 We quickly had some lunch before catching our shuttle to the airport. This was the view from our table. Magnificent!

Our Terrific Conference Weekend

April 14, 2013

Going to General Conference has always been a highlight of my life, but this time it added new meaning. Pres. Brinkerhoff, Emily's mission president, encouraged us to come visit our missionary when he heard we were coming for conference. We glady accepted the invitation. What a joy to see our radiant, faithful missionary, Hermana Emily Lewis! Of course, there were a few tears shed, but what a sweet experience to be with her and see her "in action" as a missionary. She is presently serving in the Idaho Falls Visitors Center. They had a traveling display of 12 of Arnold Friberg's Book of Mormon paintings that he was commissioned by the General Primary Pres. at the time to paint. She paid for it with her own funds as they church couldn't afford to do so. I learned a great deal about each of the paintings that I hadn't known before. Listening to Emily's testimony of what the painting meant to her, was a choice experience for me. We enjoyed meeting her two companions, Sister Espiritu, and the other sister. She was being transferred that afternoon. In the kitchen area they have two computers that they take turns logging on and chatting with people around the world that are asking questions about the church. It is one of Emily's favorite things to do. 

 We are blessed to have this wonderful daughter!

Our time went by quickly with Emily, but we had another precious daughter to go visit. We enjoyed a wonderful time with Julia at her trailer in Rexburg. We were sorry to miss Austin who was at school and work. They have a nice place and she treated us to a yummy sandwich. Always a joy to see your children marry well and then begin their own place together. Again, our time together was too short! 

We love this sweet daughter!

Julia is our "Julia Joy!"

We hurried on our way to Salt Lake City to the Univ. of Utah campus to hear Danielle  play in a quartet for the "Utah Chamber Music Competition Winners." While on the freeway, we got a call from Geoff asking us where we were. He had come to the Plymouth exit, near Fielding, to pick up Jamie who came down from Rexburg for the weekend. We pulled off the freeway for a few minutes to visit with them. It was a delight to see them! Thanks Geoff for taking those few extra minutes to see us. We were grateful to make it in time (barely) to hear Danielle perform. It was so beautiful! I wish we lived closer so we could enjoy more of her music and her performances. Then we stopped at Hires Big H Burgers for a late dinner.

Alice-Anne, Spencer and Elliot picked us up at the airport on Thursday afternoon, April 4th. The first thing Spencer said to me was "Happy Birthday Grandma." It made my birthday to see those darling children again! Conference is a sweet experience because we get to be with this cute family. They always go all out to make it a so nice for us. We're spoiled by their royal treatment! 

I had a few treats for the children that I hide around the room shortly after I arrived. I'm not sure if it was that, or just what it was, but Spencer and I became bonded friends that weekend. I loved my time with him and he seemed to enjoy his Grandma. Most of the grandchildren adore Grandpa because he's so fun and full of life and plays with them so well. I was glad to connect with Spencer that weekend.

Thursday evening we had dinner with one of our customers/distributors who we had just known over the phone. It was nice to get acquainted. All of us attended a Reliv special event in Orem that eveniing and then we went to Crismon and Danielle's for a quick look at their new apt. they moved into this weekend.

You gotta love this kid!

Sat. morning we had a family walk around the neighborhood to help get their energy out before Conf. started. Gary had been awakened at 6 a.m. by their neighbors to come get their boys as their Mom had just gone into labor.

It's a joyous experience to be in the Conference Center and to feel the incredible spirit in abundance that attended the meeting and each of the speakers. The BYU Men's Chorus and BYU's Concert Choir performed in that session and it was fun to see (thanks to the big screens) cousins, Alejandra Gimenez and Harrison McCullough singing in the choir. We sat next to Martha & Chuck Allen's family, and Crismon and Danielle were there, too. We missed having Julia & Austin, and, of course, Emily who are usually with us, too.

Afterwards we connected with Colette & Mark McCullough and family and Ardene and Kurtis who were there, too. Nothing quite like seeing family! 

While the men were in the Priesthood Session I enjoyed visiting with Danielle and her Grandmother, Sus Swain, who was just completing her Family History Mission, over the last 21 months. The weather was spectacular and the flowers and trees were breathtaking!

Kenna, Spencer, and Elliot were so fun to play with in between sessions. They are all creative and full of life so there is lots of entertainment for us to enjoy.

Kute Kenna is almost eight! Next conf. she can come, too.

Spencer had made a "train" in the living room with different cars.

Elliot was having fun during Conf. playing with his parking garage his Dad had made, and drinking Reliv!

Elliot is at that adorable and yet challenging age of two. What a cute boy!

Alice-Anne went with her Dad to the Sunday afternoon session. I'm glad she had a break. Gary prepared a delicious birthday meal while she was gone, homemade, delicious Chicken Pot Pie, homemade rolls and homemade carrot cake (my favorite!) Earlier that morning Alice-Anne made homemade cinnamon rolls. Yes, we were spoiled!

We didn't have enough time with these wonderful grandchildren, but we relished every minute we could get it. We flew home Monday morning. We were thankful for $89 tickets each way that made flying very attractive.

I felt renewed and strengthened in my testimony after conference with a greater determination to be a missionary, stand up for truth, strengthen family ties, and strive to be more aware of others I could serve. We are blessed with modern day apostles and prophets!