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.

December Decorations and more...

December was filled with blessings and heartaches. The Christmas season began early in our home as Daisy and Kaeley wanted to decorate for Christmas about five days before Thanksgiving. We've never decorated that early before. It was fun to see them so happy and excited.

An early Christmas present from Emily and Bronson was a new printer. We were desperate for a printer, and they were so generous to give that to us. It works so well!

We were happy we could attend in person church, as we are now allowed up to 25% capacity, which means we could easily have 100 people attend, although our numbers have been more like 40-60 in attendance. Our stake did a Music Devotional during the Christmas season. Crismon and I filmed a short message that was added to the end of the Devotional.

Since we couldn't hold our traditional neighborhood gathering the first part of December as we have in the past, we organized a Zoom gathering. It was fun to catch up on each others lives. We only had six households join in, but at least we still connected which was important.

On December 9th we were privileged to have a Zoom call with Elder Bragg and his wife, a general authority who was doing a virtual tour of the mission. What was most interesting was personal insights regarding Pres. Nelson's recent worldwide message to the world. He shared that in one of their meetings that they all attend together on one of the floors of the JS building, which has been dedicated as a gathering place for the Brethren as they can't meet in the SLC temple that is being renovated, Pres. Nelson talked about his concern for the people around the world. He had been pondering about it for some time and asking the Lord about it. The spirit spoke to him and said, "What are you going to do about it, boy?" That night, he woke in the middle of the night with a distinct revelation of what he was to do. He was told what to ask us to do on social media and even the date that he was to present his worldwide message. Pres. Nelson has been so good about counseling us to seek revelation in our lives, and he has shared more about receiving revelation than any other of the prophets in our lifetime.

Dec. 15th, we were able to watch Asher's orchestra concert on youtube. It's so neat how they can put the sound together of all the performers and we can enjoy their orchestra, although they don't physically gather to play together.

Wed., Dec. 16th Vivi and the children left about 2:30 in the afternoon to go to the mall. Tragically, as they were going through an intersection out in the country area, a truck, going way too fast, ran the stop sign and plowed in to them. He hit them on the right passenger wheel and it tore off the front of their van. It was so traumatic for all of them. Gratefully, we were home, and we could immediately go to pick them up, about 10 minutes away. They went to the hospital later that day to get checked out. Fortunately, they were OK, but Vivi was hurt the worse in her chest and neck. Their car was totaled. We are so grateful for divine protection over them.

The next morning we were to leave to go back East for Christmas with Meredith and Dallin's family. Thankfully, we had cancelled our trip several weeks before due to the increase of COVID, and we were home to take care of Vivi, and Dad to work on her insurance. It has taken hours and days trying to work it out. She was able to buy a nice Nissan 2017 with 31,000 miles for $12,000, about the amount she would receive from the insurance company.

It was kind of exhausting for me to keep up with caring for Vivi along with meals, and laundry. Ondalynn and Gary came on Friday, the 18th and brought a delicious soup, homemade rolls, and cookies. Also, members of the ward were good to reach out and help. We had three yummy meals brought in the week after Christmas.

Seth and Tiffany and the boys came on Saturday, the 19th. I put together a lunch for all of us with leftover soups we had. They brought a beautiful basket with two loaves of good bread from Great Harvest and some granola. We had a wonderful visit with them. Preston and Asher played their violins, as well. 

We were concerned on Wed., the 23rd that Tiffany was sick. Of course, we all worry about COVID. She was tested and the next day on Christmas Eve Day, she called to say she was positive. We were now really concerned as they had been in our home for two hours and we had eaten at the same table. I already wasn't feeling the best. As the day went on I began feeling worse. We canceled our plans to go to the Vance's for Christmas Eve. But now, what to do to make it fun for the kids? Daisy was crying as she was so disappointed. The Vance's were sad, too, especially Isaac. We hurried and ordered take out, and that helped save the night for the children. We had a sweet time reading from Luke together and opening the secret pal gifts. We FaceTimed with Dallin's family for about a half-hour which was nice.

On Christmas, we had fun exchanging gifts. Then we visited with each of the families over FaceTime, or by phone. I was really feeling sick, so it was hard for me to talk on the phone.

On Saturday the 26th I was able to get a COVID test with the County Health Center in a drive-through set up in a parking lot. I learned the following Monday that my test was negative. I was really surprised, as many of my symptoms were similar to Tiffany's with headache, dizziness, feeling very cold, weakness, and fatigue. I don't know if I got a false negative test or not. 

We celebrated Crismon's 72nd birthday on Wed., the 30th. I had planned a Surprise Zoom Call with all the children for 1:30 pm that day. The Vance's came by, right before that to surprise Dad. He was definitely surprised when I brought in the computer with all the family there to wish him a Happy Birthday. I had asked them to come prepared to share a memory, a funny experience, or something about Dad. It was so fun reminiscing together. We watched a movie together that night. He had a great day. He's wonderful!

On New Years Eve Day, Julia, Austin and Dallin came down from the Kenmore, north of Seattle. Dallin has been afraid of Gary in the past, and when they drove up to the Vance's house he said, "I want to go to Daisy-Kaeley's house. Gratefully, it was just Isaac that was there at first and he started playing with him. Gradually, the others came and it helped him not feel so overwhelmed. Now that he is older, he was able to adjust easily and he absolutely loved playing with the boys, and even taking Gary's hand to show him something. This was a big breakthrough. He loved playing football with the boys and wearing Paxton's BYU 1 jersey. He kept saying "I Zach Wilson!"

Ondalynn prepared a lovely formal dinner for New Year's Eve. Afterwards we play a game Daisy had put together, wrapping candy and surprises in plastic wrap and they took turns unwinding it. Then we exchanged Christmas gifts. We headed home soon after and Dad and I didn't welcome in the New Year by staying up, but Vivi and the girls did.

We are all hoping that 2021 will bring a containment of the COVID virus, a rebound in the economy, and greater love and peace in our country. It has been quite a year!