March Memories & some Madness

Our most joyous news is the arrival of Elise Michelle Gardner. This is Emily & Bronson’s first, and our 27th grandchild, born on March 6th in Madison, WI. I was so happy I could be there to help Emily through the last 6 hours of labor and to witness the miracle of birth. I arrived in time to spend one day with Emily at home, before she and Bronson went to the hospital, early on Thursday morning the 5th for her to be induced. It was a long day and night for her. We're grateful that all went well, and we could welcome this precious baby into the world and to such a wonderful family. I loved every minute of the 10-days I spent in Madison with this precious family. Emily and Bronson are already such attentive, good parents. It was a joy to see my "baby" have a "baby." She is such a wonderful mommy to precious Elise.

A terrible virus started in China last fall. It rapidly spread around the world. Sadly, China was trying to hide that there was a very contagious virus, and as a result, the rest of the world wasn't as prepared as we could have been for it. While in Madison, the reality of what the Coronavirus was capable of doing, was shocking. The COVID-19 virus was much more dangerous than the flu. It was mostly hitting older people with pre-existing conditions. By March 9th, the church announced that no one would be attending the April Conference except those speaking and their families and the technicians. By Wednesday, things were changing quickly, all church meetings and activities were canceled around the world. Gratefully, the church was well prepared, and the members were prepared for home church with the "Come Follow Me" program.

One-by-one, things began to get canceled, "March Madness," the College National Basketball Tournament, professional sports, conferences around the world, trips, gatherings. At first, it was no gatherings over 100 people, soon that was changed to no gatherings over 10 people. If all our children were at home, this would have been interesting. When Alice-Anne asked, what we would have done, Emily responded that she was always getting into trouble and had to go to the garage. So we would have dealt with it that way. I was concerned about my travel home with COVID-19 virus rapidly spreading in the US and around the world. Gratefully, we have been doing well.

March 2nd, before I left for the airport, I was able to watch Seth speaking live at Parliament to a committee of the House of Lords on the future of journalism. He did so well! I’m glad he had that opportunity as a week later, or so, restrictions were being placed on gathering with others due to the virus.

March 7-8 was our Stake Conference with Elder Ricardo P. Giménez, a General Authority Seventy. Because I was in Madison, and Vivi and her family were living in our basement, Elder Gimenez stayed in a hotel. He even insisted on using a rental car, so Crismon didn’t have as much one-on-one time as he has had in the past with conference visitors. I was so grateful that Crismon was able to send me a link to the conference, so I was able to see the Saturday evening and Sunday morning sessions live. Even our children were able to watch the conference. We are grateful that all went well. The talks were all so good, and the music was beautiful. Crismon did so well in conducting on Sunday and in his talk. What a blessing to not miss out on the conference! It was fun to see the cute picture of young Dallin watching Grandpa on the screen during the stake conference broadcast.

All of our lives have been turned upside down as a result of the virus, like everyone else. We’re grateful for the technology that keeps us connected with our family and friends. Crismon has been able to continue as stake president, meeting with other leaders by way of Zoom conferencing, and doing interviews. Our Johns family felt the major earthquake in Utah this month. We are so anxious to hear from our Prophet and leaders this conference weekend.

Many new changes, the children are now taught from home, all colleges are closed down with only online classes. For awhile we were only giving our Caudle grandchildren in our home elbow bumps after family prayer, but we got tired of that pretty quickly, and now we hug them. Vivi and the children have been busy putting puzzles together. Crismon and I worked together one Saturday making homemade wheat bread and oatmeal cookies. Crismon makes the best salads for our dinners. I appreciate his help. I missed my family here in Oregon, while in Madison, but I'm so thankful I could be there. Especially, as any later and I would not have been able to go to see precious baby Elise with the "stay-at-home" orders in place throughout the country. Danielle adapted to the changes by teaching violin online. Not her favorite, of course, but everyone is trying to adapt to so many changes in their lives. Thousands of missionaries have returned home. Many flights were full of missionaries only! The attendants loved having them, commenting how respectful and kind they were, and they loved the singing of the hymns they provided.

Gratefully, the spirit of comfort and peace is available daily as I seek to "Hear Him" through my meditation, prayers, and scripture study. My daily habits have helped keep me grounded during this time of upheaval.

February Fun

Crismon, Vivi, Daisy, & Kaeley spent a good portion of their Saturday on Feb. 8th, helping with the community service project held at our Church House, “Days for Girls.” They assembled personal hygiene kits for girls in Africa.

I love being in a bookclub with good friends. We have a great time together. I've become, quite a book lover after join this group, and being inspired by Julia's avid reading.

Over the President’s Day weekend, Julia, Austin & Dallin came down. We had the fun of watching Dallin while Julia & Austin had a short get-away. He was so good. What joy fills our home to have a toddler around. We all adore that little boy.

Seth’s family went to Bavaria during their school break. Their schedule is almost like year-round school, so they get two-week breaks throughout the year. They had an incredible experience skiing the Alps! Preston Gee, Tiffany’s Dad, and her Mom joined them as well. Grandpa Gee had a dream of skiing the Alps with his grandchildren, so this was an especially fun time for all of them.

We loved attending Grandparent’s Day with Daisy and Kaeley. Ms. Creighton is Kaeley's teacher. She also taught Julia & Emily. It was also fun going to the Vance’s ward Talent Show. Ondaynn and Isaac each played a piano solo, Sydney on the violin, and Julia sang a solo. Life is grand.

January Joys

Special family events in January include attending the ordination of grandson, Bryson Vance, as a Deacon on Sunday, Jan 5th. This made it possible for us to have a family temple baptismal session with Bryson and Daisy who attended for the first time, along with Sydney, Julia & Clark. Gary did all the baptizing, with each of the teens having an opportunity to be a witness, as well as Ondalynn, Vivienne, and myself. This was a first time for all of us. It was a choice experience to be in the temple with our grandchildren. What joy we have in our posterity.

We celebrated our 45th Wedding Anniversary on January 16th. We wanted to do something to honor our children on our anniversary for their goodness. We decided to put together a timeline of our lives. It was so interesting to see how our timelines merged together when we were married and remember the highlights of our 45 years together. This ended up being a much bigger project than we expected, but it was a joy to work on together. We added pictures to some of the events. In the process, we were reminded of the many tender mercies that the Lord has poured out upon us over the years.

Crismon was asked to speak at the Missionary Zone Conference this week. He stays in touch with the missionaries and is a great support to them.

Daisy (Tumbling) and Kaeley (Ballet) performed in the Winter Dance Program at Mt. Hood College put on by the Dance Academy that they are part of. They are both so flexible and graceful. It was fun cheering for them. Clark was set apart as the 2nd Counselor in his Deacon’s Quorum. We love having these good children in our home. Sunday, the 26th, we gathered to celebrate Clark’s 13th birthday. Emily has many good friends in her ward. They put on a lovely baby shower for her.

December Delights

Our month of December included our annual Christmas gathering in our home for our neighbors, which reaches out to those on our street, and others in the general area. We were happy there was about 26 in all. It’s always a treat to have them in our home and it’s a great opportunity for recent move-ins to get acquainted.

We enjoyed listening to the Christmas concerts for Bryson, Julia, and Sydney. We especially loved attending Sydney’s concert at the Grotto. Julia performed in a vocal recital and did extremely well. She's the youngest, with all the others in being high school. Crismon’s involvement in the Chamber provides fun gatherings during the holidays, too. 

Especially rewarding was reaching out to less actives, inviting them to “Invitation Sunday” and having them actually come was so wonderful. I was asked to speak on that Christmas Sacrament meeting, so Crismon used that opportunity to say, “You’ll want to come support Vivienne as she is speaking on Sunday.” One family in particular that we have been ministering to, hasn’t been to church in 40 years or so. We have become good friends, and we were so happy they came. As she left the meeting she said, “I know I told you I was coming to hear Vivienne, but really, I was doing it for me.” This was a huge step for them. We hope they will remember the feeling they had that day and want to come again. Another couple came for the first time in over 25 years. Miracles happen! 

I enjoyed having Asher interview me for his World War II project at school. He was asking me about my Dad's involvement in building the Atomic Bomb at Oak Ridge Tennessee. It was so interesting for me to read my Dad's journal about that time and give Asher some good information to put his project together.

Bryson, Isaac, and Paxton were in their ward Nativity program. They are such good boys. How we love them! Our good friends, Larry & Marge Heppler had a special FHE in their home on Dec. 16th. It was a fun time to gather with other empty-nesters in our ward. They asked us to bring an appetizer to share and a talent to perform. We didn't know what to do, but I decided to share the "Living Christ." I had memorized it several years earlier, so I refreshed it for that evening, Since, I've been trying to say it each day to always keep it constant in my memory. It's been a sweet blessing in my life to learn and memorize the entire document. How I love my Savior Jesus Christ.

Christmas was delightful having Julia, Austin, and 18-month-old Dallin here. We gathered (Vivi’s family, too) Christmas Eve at the Vance’s home for dinner, the nativity, and also the BYU game. Then Christmas Day was full of excitement. The Vance’s came for dinner and games, and the sister missionaries were here some of that time, too.

Crismon turned 71 on Dec. 30th. The children called or FaceTime with him. We visited our friends, Lyle & Renae Trammell. Then ate a late lunch and went to see the movie, "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood," about Fred Rogers. What a great man who lived Christlike teachings. I saw a Facebook post that day from my friend, Sharon Mueller. She said she had extra homemade apple pie and wanted to share it with someone. What a blessing to receive that delicious pie for Crismon's birthday as it was difficult for me to make anything special. Such a sweet tender mercy to have her do that for us, especially since I rarely look at Facebook, but I just happened to see this post. I'm grateful for such a wonderful husband who brings me joy everyday.

We ended the year, Dec. 31st attending the temple with our friend, Leslie Jenkins. It’s great to see how she loves being in the temple. Since she received her Endowment the first of October, she has gone weekly, only missing one or two times since then. That evening we celebrated the New Year with fun games with Vivi and her children. It has been a blessing to have them in our home.