Family Letter the end of June

Dear Family,                                                                        June 29, 2013

We’re experiencing a heat wave here as many are in the west. It’s been up to about 95 degrees, which is hot for us. But it sounds cool compared to Meredith’s 117 degrees in Glendale, and 104 degrees in West Jordan for the Johns.

The sister missionaries were just in our home for dinner. We are grateful for faithful sisters who are lighting an excitement and energy in our ward. They are working hard. They reminded us of a few friends were trying to fellowship. Last month we took Lori & Michael Fryar with us to the Portland Ensign Choir & Orchestra, patriotic concert. Although in a Bishopric years ago, he hasn’t been involved in the church for sometime. She is not a member. They live just down the hill from us and we have become good friends over the years. She became especially endeared to Crismon Jr. because on his own went and helped her haul bark dust one day after school when he could see she needed help. It was a fun evening for Michael to see many friends from the Damascus Ward that he hadn’t seen in about 30 years.

My visiting teaching partner, Paula Noel, went through the temple for the first time a couple of months ago. It has been wonderful to see her love for the Gospel grow and her desire to receive her Endowment become a high priority in her life. I think Larry Linton might have been her HT years ago. Each influence for good plays a part in helping one to move forward in the truth. On June 3^rd we invited the Noel family for dinner and FHE. He is not a member, and their 10-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son are less active. We were pleased to see how much fun the children had in the FHE activity playing Charades.

Crismon put together a letter to be sent out to all the churches in this area, inviting them to participate with us and the other churches for a Day of Service, the same day for service as a stake. The blessing this week, all the pastors that Crismon has been working with to be on his board, all agreed to have their name on the invitation. This was huge. It is not the other churches joining with the LDS, but a community of pastors uniting in a day of service. The members of the congregations will be asked to invite their neighbors to participate in gathering food for the needy in September, the same day as the Church’s worldwide day of service. It has become quite a project, but many doors have been opened for Crismon to see some pastors who wouldn’t let him come visit them before. Truly, the hand of the Lord has gone before him and blessed him with many tender mercies in this endeavor.

A few updates on our ward. Martha & Chuck Allen have been called to serve a mission to Oslo, Norway as office missionaries, leaving Nov. 18^th, for 18 months. They will return just before Connor returns from his mission. This means Crismon will need to replace him as his counselor at that time.

Dad and I tried to beat the heat this morning by working in our yard and garden early in the morning. Our garden plot is way to big for us now to keep up without kids at home to help. It’s a major battle to fight the weeds and the grass. We’re hoping to get things cleared out and bring in some rock to help elevate the problem.

It’s now Sunday, 6/30. Happy Birthday wishes to our lovely daughter-in-law, Janelle. We love you! 

Today will be my last “Special Time with Grandma – I Can’t Wait Until I’m Eight” with Kenna Johns, Julia Vance and Preston Lewis. Kenna will be the first of that group to get baptized, starting in Aug. It’s been so fun for me to meet with them once a month and discuss about baptism and help prepare them for this important step. I’ll have to have another “Google Chat” with my other grandchildren. It has been delightful!

Seth had meetings in London for a week and Tiffany was able to join him. Seth received an outstanding award at the conference. I’ll copy what he posted on his Facebook page: “A bit belated, but I have some surprise news to share from earlier this week at #ica13: One of my 2012 articles was named Outstanding Journal Article of the Year in Journalism Studies.”

“The journal (Information, Communication & Society) has made the article open access: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2012.674150 ... It's been such a wonderful conference week in London, especially because Tiffany Gee Lewis has been here to share it with me!”  Congratulations, Seth! We’re so proud of you!

Their "hotel" for a few days while in London. Seth finds interesting places to stay.

Meredith & Norm and Julie & Joe Jensen were in England at the same time and Tiffany was able to spend a day with them sightseeing. It’s pretty amazing to go to Europe to see your relatives from Utah. Nice you could be together.

Tiffany & Aunt Meredith while in Bath, England.

Yesterday we enjoyed being at the sealing of Caitlin Caudle & Ryan Jones, and to do Initiatory.  I’m grateful for unexpected opportunities to serve. Today I was asked to substitute in Primary, just minutes before it was to start. I loved being with those cute 4-year-olds.

Last Sunday, the Church worldwide broadcast “The Work of Salvation” was tremendous! So very inspiring! It was especially touching for me having a daughter serving as a full-time missionary in Argentina. I do feel motivated to go forth and try harder and be more involved in this great missionary work. It’s interesting how the missionaries will spend more time on the computers, even on Facebook, interacting with members and contacting people, through texting, etc.

This photo was taken by Crismon Jr. while he and Danielle were attending the broadcast as the Marriott Center.

I look forward to Monday's when we hear from our dedicated missionary, Emily!

Love to all our family near and far.

Mom & Dad

Vivienne & Crismon

Fun with the Williams' Family

Written June 16th, updated June 30th. I had such a fun week with this darling family. Bryan took his Boards for Medical School on June 17th and then his DO Boards (Osteopathic Dr.) the following week, June 24th. This has been a pretty intense time for this family. Bryan worked hard studying 6 days a week from 7 a.m. until 11 pm. for over a month, (along with the past 2 years) while Meredith carried quite a load at home with her three little ones. We are proud of both of them for their many sacrifices to get this far. Many wives usually pack up and head home while their husbands study for boards as it's such a crazy time, but not realistic with 3 small children. Then the Williams' took a much needed vacation to San Diego last week.

Evelyn showing off her new swimming suit.

Christian happy that Grandma gave him a Captain America figure.

Baby Hudson hanging out at the pool in a 109 degree weather!

Meredith is such a good Mommy, making everyday a great day for these kids. I was glad I could be there for a week to give her an extra hand.

Cute Mommy Meredith with Christian & Evelyn.

Evelyn, 4-years old, about to show off how she can ride without training wheels.

While I was there, Bryan was called as the Ward Executive Secretary. I was privileged to sit in on his setting apart. He was released as a counselor in the Elders Quorum.

Babysitting the kids while Bryan & Meredith are meeting with the High Councilman.  Help!

Active Mommy having fun with Christian. 

Stacy Brown, Meredith's good friend and their children go on a 2 hour bike ride in 90+ weather.

Adorable Hudson and his pretty Mommy.

Mommy time with Evelyn. Guess who painted whose toenails?

Making cookies! Meredith is so patient.

On our way to church. Guess who sat in the back without a seat?

Hudson (nearly 4 months old) was blessed the Sunday I was there in their home with some of their close friends. His Aunt Kelsie teased that he was so big he could have crawled up to be blessed. He is a special little one who will be a great example to others and a comfort to his mother.

Blessing day for Hudson

I love being a Mom and a Grandma!

Hudson is the best baby! And so very, very cute!!!

Glamorous Meredith enjoying the fan I bought for their kitchen.

Our for a Sunday walk in 106 degree weather!

Many fun times swimming in their beautiful pool.

Christian has the strongest arm muscles, although he is so skinny. While playing Hide-and-Seek, he had boosted himself up on top of the washer and shut the sliding door. What a kid!

Hudson looks like a little doll. He reminded me of Meredith as a baby with those cute features, just like a doll you'd pick up off a shelf in a store.  

Hudson, nearly 4 months old.

I was glad I could be there for Meredith & Bryan to take a quick get-away to Scottsdale after Bryan's first Boards. I had fun having special time with Evelyn & Christian. We had FHE. As I started the lesson talking about Baptism, Evelyn quickly said, "We don't talk about Baptism. We talk about being nice and being mean." Christian quickly agreed. Such cute...and funny kids! I loved being with them and I always go through withdrawals when I leave.

Portland Temple Visitors Center Dedication

 Our prayers have been with Grandma Lewis who has not been feeling well as of late. She has a sincere desire to finish her history, and she has been faithfully working on it for years. We are so grateful for her example. We hope and pray she can receive added energy to keep working at her computer and blessing our lives by her faithful example and love.

Emily with Grandma, June 2012

The highlight of the week was talking with Emily on Monday as she had a 4-hour lay over at the SLC airport on her way to Argentina. It was wonderful to visit with her and she had a chance to talk with nearly all her siblings, which she absolutely loved, too. It was a delight to hear that she arrived safely and to receive her first letter.

Emily and other missionaries on their way to Buenos Aires.

We have been enjoying beautiful sunshine, warm, pleasant, gorgeous days. Along with the green and the abundance of flowers everywhere, Oregon is spectacular this time of year.

I left on Tues. June 11th to fly to Phoenix to help Meredith with her 3 busy children while Bryan is in his last week of studying for his Boards. As you know, it is extremely intensive, and Meredith has been a trooper to be a supportive, good wife, and give Bryan the time he needs to study, while she manages everything at home without any breaks. More on my visit with them later.

We had a most interesting and wonderful experience last Sunday evening. We hosted Bess Wills and her husband, Bob Avila at the Portland, OR Temple Visitors Center Dedication. Each stake president was asked to invite a prominent person in their community to come to the dedication. Many mayors, civic leaders, political leaders, and religious leaders were present. Bess is the President of the Gresham Chamber of Commerce (that Crismon belongs to), and is the General Manager of Gresham Ford, referred to as a “The Dealer with a Heart.” She is amazing women, donating all the time to organizations for people in need. Her husband is retired, but is the Pres. of the Rotary Club in Gresham.

Presiding Bishop Gary Stevenson was here to give the Dedicatory Prayer. Before doing so, explained about our Humanitarian efforts, about temples, about missionaries and our sharing of testimonies. It was excellent, and then gave a beautiful dedicatory prayer. We then showed our guest around our small, but very nice Visitors Center, and walked around the temple grounds. We had a lovely evening with them. We got to speak personally for a few minutes with Bishop Stevenson and he asked where I was from in Cache Valley. He knew Geoff and Peggy very well, as Peggy use to work at his company. Then he was thrilled to hear that Crismon was Malin & Myreel’s son, as he had heard about them all his life. He said, I’ll go home and email my father tonight and tell him. He’ll be so thrilled. He is now 85 years old. His father, Evan Stevenson, was a missionary in Ajo years ago and had a great love for the Lewis’s.

Bob Avila & Bess Wills with Crismon

Temple grounds with Bess Wills & Bob Avila

Other events have been helping Ondalynn at their home so she could get some much needed projects done and attending Sydney’s music concert where all the 4^th grade classes played the recorder and the marimbas. They were fantastic! What a terrific music program in their school.

Cute Sydney Vance with Grandma Lewis, 4th grade concert.

Friday afternoon, June 7th we attended a temple endowment session and sealing for a couple in our stake, Jim & Rita Dunnihoo. She joined the church about a year ago and he became reactivated by Pres. & Sister Watts when they returned from their mission while they served as their Home Teachers. A special highlight was walking down the temple hallway and seeing Elder Quentin L. Cook. He was gracious to stop briefly to shake our hands. What a treat! He was there to perform a sealing.

Crismon met with the Pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist in Pleasant Valley last week. He originally was only going to give him 15 minutes, but visited for an hour with him, walked him out to his car and shook his hand about 3 different times. Crismon has had some good experiences becoming acquainted with many pastors and leaders of other denominations in the area. His association in the Chamber of Commerce as well as reaching out to these churches in an effort to join together in a Day of Service in September has opened many doors in further relationships with other faiths. Some have shown an interest, and others say they already do their own service activities, but it has been a great experience for Crismon to get to know these good people in the community.

Sat. afternoon, June 8th we attended the Retirement Party for Koni Riedel. She taught all our children music (except Ondalynn & Seth) at West Gresham Elementary School. She is another remarkable person.

Then we had the fun of having Clark, Daisy, and Kaeley here in the evening while their parents had a night together. We love having some of our grandchildren close to enjoy.

Bedtime stories with Caudle grandchildren.

Mother's Day speech at the Grotto

A unique opportunity that I had on Mother's Day was to speak at the Grotto in Portland. I was the main speaker at this Catholic Mass, speaking for about 7 minutes. Each year the Catholic Church honors mothers by having the "Oregon Mother of the Year" speak at the mass. I also handed the holy communion wine to the Priest, which meant I truly was part of the mass. When he presented us the communion if we chose not to have it, we were to cross our arms over our chest and he then gave us a blessing.

I was given instructions by a Pauline, a nun, who told me never to pass the altar without bowing to it. I was pretty nervous about making sure I didn't do anything to offend them. It seemed to go well for which I was grateful for. The weather cooperated, too. It was an outdoor mass and it started to sprinkle just as it ended.

Other members of the American Mothers Board and organization came to support me. They had us all sit up in front on the side. Crismon and daughter, Vivi, were there, too. Ondalynn couldn't come at the last minute as baby Paxton was running a fever and needed his Mommy.

It was wonderful to see many good people gather together singing praises to God and worshipping in the way they feel is right. Naturally, you don't feel the spirit like we feel in our meetings, but they were sincere in their devotion.

Our children who have been in the Concert Choir have performed at the Grotto, usually at Christmas time. Crismon and I attended our Sacrament Meeting first and then made it in time to meet for instructions and a light snack before the mass started.

New York - New York!

We flew from Jamaica on April 21 to Newark, New Jersey, and caught a shuttle to Grand Central Station in New York City. The last time I had been in New York I was 5 years old when our family had taken a train from Ogden UT to New York to travel by ship, the "Queen Elizabeth" to England for my Dad to do a Sabbatical leave there for a year. My only memories were Grand Central Station, and seeing the Statue of Liberty. So, going to New York was filled with much awe and excitement for me. I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning. I couldn't take it all in fast enough.

Our bus ride into the busy night life of New York.

Grand Central Station is beautiful, busy, packed and simply amazing! This picture was taken about 9 p.m., so not nearly as busy as mid-day. Actually, the correct name is Grand Central Terminal, located at 42nd St. and Park Ave. in Midtown Manhattan. It is the largest train station in the world by number of platforms, 44 with 67 tracks along them. They are on two levels, both below ground with 41 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower, though the total number of tracks along platforms and in rail yards exceeds 100. The terminal covers an area of 48 acres.

It turns 100 years old this year! It has been described as "the world's loveliest station." Grand Central is the world's number six most visited tourist attraction," bringing in approximately 21,600,000 visitors annually.

This was late Sunday evening, so it was pretty quiet conpared to the middle of the day.

We took a train to Irving, NY, to stay with our friends, Mark & JoAnn Skousen. Her father had just passed away, so they weren't there when we arrived that evening. They told us what train stop to get off at and the code to getting into their home.

By the time we finally arrived at the station in Irving, it was after 11 p.m. Crismon called for a taxi, but they said they weren't running anymore that night. We didn't know what were we going to do. It was very dark, desolate, and we were weary travelers after our long day of travel, plus it took 4 hours from the time we landed to get to our destination for the night. Fortunately, we were blessed with a tender mercy. Crismon could hear two young women talking. He carefully approached them and explained our situation. Gratefully, they looked like good college-age girls and they were willing to give us a ride. Turns out they were from other countries, here in the states to be nannies and go to school. We found the Skousen's house about 3 miles away and we finally made it there close to midnight. How grateful we were that we didn't have to walk all that way late at night without anyone we knew to come to our rescue. It was such a blessing those girls talked for a little outside of their car instead of immediately getting in to their car, so we could hear them and ask for a ride.

The Train Station where we caught the train to NY.

Monday Crismon was pretty sick with the bug he picked up in Jamaica. I was feeling it coming on, too, but I was greatly blessed and got better. Consequently, we stayed at the Skousen's home on Monday, worked on our business and tried to rest. They arrived back that evening.

Tues. we went back into New York to attended the Manhattan temple in the heart of the city. It's pretty amazing that you can walk out of the world and into the quiet, holy surroundings of the temple. We ate our lunch on the 3rd floor right next to the temple. It was the "church house" for several Manhattan Wards. Before and after our session we heard young people practicing their singing in the chapel. It was incredible! The talent of the young people in New York is fantastic.

We loved the small, but beautiful temple and the opportunity to be the witness couple. As Crismon was still not well, we didn't stay into the evening but headed back to Irving.

In front of the Manhattan Temple.

These were other prominent places around the same area as the temple.

Juilliard School of Music

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

You can see the Angel Moroni above one of the buildings.

The temple is the white building behind Crismon's head.

Manhattan Temple 

We walked for blocks trying to see as much as we could in the short time we had. The weather was cool and cloudy that day, but dry.

Central Park was not far from the temple and the center of Manhattan. The park initially opened in 1857 on 778 acres of city-owned land (it is 843 acres today). As you can imagine, the park is the most visited urban park in the United States, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962.

Crismon at Central Park.

Statutes at Central Park

Central Park

Horse drawn carriages were everywhere. Beautiful flowers right down the middle of the streets, everything is quite magical like you see in the movies.

There were tall buildings everywhere, of course. It was fascinating, and quite unbelieveable.

Tues. evening Mark took us to a lovely restaurant right on the Hudson River. We had great fun visiting. JoAnne had a class to teach that night.

The view from our table of the Hudson River.

Wed. we were both feeling better and it was a beautiful day for site-seeing. Times Square was quite a buzz of excitement. It is the junction of Broadway and Seventh Ave, which has now been converted into a pedestrian plaza. It is one of the world's busiest pedestrian interections, and a major center of the world's entertainment inducstry. Amazingly, Times Square is the worlds most visited tourist attraction, with over 39 million visitors annually, approximately 300,000 people pass through Times Square daily!

Next to Battery Park to catch a Ferry to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Battery Park is located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island facking New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years to protect the settlement behind them.

 Crismon about to board the ferry.

Lower Manhattan, construction of the new World Trade Buildings

New Jersey

Ellis Island, in upper New York Bay, was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States as the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. Because of Hurricane Sandy, Ellis Island and the Statute of Liberty were closed which was disappointing.

Ellis Island

The Statue of Liberty was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States and is a unversal symbol of freedom and democracy. It was dedicated in 1886. 

Forts along the Bay

Financial district in Lower Manhattan. We didn't have time to visit Wall St.

Brooklyn, NY

Brooklyn Bridge in the background

Our business goes (nearly) everywhere we go. I had to take this picture of Crismon doing a Reliv call during our ferry ride. Amazingly, although we were gone in April for General Conf, Jamaica, and then New York, more than half of the month, we still ended up being 1st in the Nation in volume of sales and receiving a generous bonus check. We were greatly blessed!

Battery Park, monuments honoring servicemen.

Battery Park

You can see above my head is the One World Trade Center, or Freedom Tower in the background. The 1 WTC is the primary building of the new World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan. It looms above everything with it's 104-stories. The supertall skyscraper stands on the northwest corner of the World Trade Center site. Less than two weeks after we were there, the final component of the antenna was installed atop the skyscraper, making One World Trade Center tentatively the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the third-tallest building in the world by pinnacle height, with it's antenna reaching a symbolic 1,776 feet honoring the year of America's Independence.

One World Trade Center

Visiting ground zero and the National September 11 Memorial was the highlight of our trip. There is a reverent spirit that is felt at the beautiful memorial of those who lost their lives on that tragic day, the terrorist attack on 9/11/01. The water cascades downward, and downward, symbolizing the towers coming down, in to nothingness.

One remaining, beautiful Magnolia tree that still lives in the center of the World Trade Center Complex.

One World Trade Center

We loved this fun trip we had together in this busy, amazing city. It's a great place to visit, but we missed seeing children, older people (besides ourselves!), and the slower pace that is a little more comfortable for us.

We took one last brisk walk around New York before heading back to our hotel, the Waldorf=Astoria in the background. What a delightful experience!