A Weeks Review

Last week Brandon's Grandma Bishop passed away. She was a great lady and I was so happy to be able to know her. Brandon and Olivia went out there for the funeral over the weekend and then came home. A few days later his parents came out here for Thanksgiving.

While Brandon and Olivia were gone the boys and I hung out and had a lot of fun together. In my efforts to learn to love excersising so I can teach my children to love it. We ran a 1/2 mile Santa Scamper race before the Royal Oak Parade. The money we paid to run was used to help with Toys for Tots. The boys loved running it and I think we found something we're going to try to continue, short, fun races!

I just needed to add this picture of evidence of how out Logan was from his concussion on his birthday. Poor kid.

Brandon's parents came out here late tuesday night for Thanksgiving. We went and deliverd the boys letters to santas at the mall. We went and saw Tangled, (Best Movie EVER!) Had a great Thanksgiving dinner with Brandon's parents and our friends the Arrhenius'. Then Denise and I hit some black friday sales. We made it back before anyone else woke up. We put up our Christmas decorations. The kids went on lots of walks with grandma and papa. We went to the Henry Ford and Greenfield Village. Saturday we watched the BYU game and were holding out hope that they would pull off a win. Brandon took me out to dinner that night for my birthday and his parents watched the kids. All in all it was a great week full of fun and laughter:)

Sending their letters off to santa at the north pole.

This is probably one of my favorite pictures right here.

This is me on my birthday being sung to.

Great Grandma Bishop

Our beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Cleo Thorpe Bishop, 89, passed away on November 16, 2010, following a series of strokes. She was born May 9, 1921, in Springville (now Mapleton), Utah, to Herbert Gerald Thorpe and Juliette Fullmer Thorpe, the fifth of seven children. She graduated from Springville High School in 1939. She married Frank Bishop on August 25, 1943, just before Frank was sent to Germany during World War II. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple. While Dad was overseas, Mom bought a farm at the mouth of Hobble Creek Canyon, where they lived and raised eight children.
Mom accomplished many things during her lifetime. She made her own laundry soap; she canned fruits and vegetables; she churned butter, sewed, quilted, crocheted tablecloths and knitted lovely sweaters and gloves. She grew beautiful roses, peonies and delphiniums. Mom doggedly worked to become computer proficient. She spent long hours doing extractions and genealogy work on the computer, and took great pride in having learned a “modern” skill. Mom was a fierce competitor at Scrabble and could beat her sons and daughters regularly well into her eighties.
Although our mother did not complete her college degree, she loved learning. She instilled a passion for study and a desire for education in her children and grandchildren. In order to focus on education, mom would not allow a television in our home until all of her children had graduated from high school. Mom also memorized Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson poems while doing laundry on an old wringer washing machine. She also began learning yoga, and could do head stands and shoulder stands into her seventies. She walked daily, in rain or snow, until her first stroke at 86. She hiked Timpanogos yearly, first with friends, later with her children and grandchildren. She climbed to the top of Timpanogos at age 74 and 75, and to Emerald Lake at age 77. Mom was a healthy eater; as she always told us, “When you’re green inside, you’re clean inside,” and “The whiter the bread, the sooner you’re dead.” She lived a long life, a tribute to the dedicated way she cared for her body.
Mom was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She had great faith in her Savior, Jesus Christ. Mom spoke often of answers to prayers and revelation she received from dreams. She loved temple work, and served as a temple worker. She also worked for many years in the Primary and Relief Society. Because Mom’s mother became a widow at a young age, Mom had a tender heart for single mothers and gave generously.
She is preceded in death by her beloved companion, Frank Bishop, and survived by her sister, Lela Rae Black, and eight children: Ann (John) Jacobs; Bonnie (Will) Jacobs; Avery (Akiko) Bishop; Clark (Nora) Bishop; Gerald (Kayleen) Bishop; Wally (Denise) Bishop; Barbara (Brent) Pace; Mary (Jeff) Price; as well as 32 grandchildren and 44 living great-grandchildren.
The family appreciates the loving attendance offered by the staff at Canyon Breeze Senior Living Center and the expert, gentle hospice staff. We are especially grateful for her ward family, and the many dedicated home teachers, bishops and Relief Society sisters who provided service to Mom for many years. The funeral services will be held Saturday, November 20, 2010, at 11:00 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel, 1965 E. Canyon Road, Springville, Utah. Family and friends may call Friday evening from 6-8 at Wheeler Mortuary, 211 E. 200 S. and at 10:00 a.m. before the funeral services at the chapel.

Birthday Boy!

Today was my sweet boys birthday. I can't believe he is 7. He told me today, "guess what mom, next year I'll be 8 and I'll get baptized!" Logan is a pretty mellow guy. He's easy to please and he's such a joy to have in our family. He has a thirst for knowledge and is always surprising me with what he knows and has learned. He's a little math whizz and loves to read. We just love this little boy.

Today was the primary program at our church and my kids looked so cute we had to have some "nice" pictures. All week I've been asking him what he wants for his birthday meal and he's alwyas told me that he'll let me know when he decides. So last night as I was tucking him into bed he told me he wanted Cinnamon Toast Crunch. So I sent Brandon to the store to get it. We were prepared. The primary program went great, primary was great and then he came into the nursery with me and was goofing off and ran his head into one of the hard wood doors. About 10 minutes later he said he had a headache and he didn't feel well. He came home and laid down on the couch. Got up long enough to open presents. Then puked. Then he slept for about 3 hours. Woke up long enough to blow out candles on his rice krspie cake and then puked again. Brandon and our friend Dan gave him a blessing and he is now sleeping. Poor guy didn't get to enjoy his Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I'm just glad that we had a birthday party on friday:)

Friday night we had a Star Wars party for Logan and some of his friends. It was a blast! The kids made light sabers. We had padawan pizza, yoda soda, light saber pretzel sticks, and Chewbacca Chocolates. We had the kids play games like shooting the dart guns at storm troopers, keeping balloons up in the air, popping bubbles with the light sabers. We did a dance circle where the kids got to show off their moves, we did an asteroid hunt and had cake and presents. It went really smoothly and the kids all seemed to have a great time.

Our Weekend

Soccer came to an end. Both boys loved playing and had a great season. Porter scored 6 times during our game. Logan has maintained his defensive position during this season and helped his team block goals. All in all we're excited to have our saturdays back though.

Saturday night we went to our wards Halloween party and Trunk or Treat. Olivia knew the drill that if she walked around with her bag open people put her favorite stuff in it. When we came home the kids dumped out their goods and Porter had at least 3X has much as Olivia and Logan. There was a small window Brandona and I didn't know where he was and he was out mooching candy from people.

Sunday we got together with some friends and everyone brought candy and other things to put in bags to donate to the hospital for the kids who couldn't go trick or treating. The older kids went with Brandona and Craig and took them to the hospital. We then ate and played some really fun games. We had a great Halloween now on to Brandon's favorite holiday. Thanksgiving!