Thanksgiving Time
November 18-25

Who doesn't love the great Holiday of Thanksgiving? or as they say in Español: acción de gracias! Dan and I decided we wanted to have a Logan Thanksgiving before we all scattered so on Saturday we went out and bought everything we needed. Michelle cooked half of the food (thanks Michelle!) but we decided to go all out and decorate. Saturday night Brittany, Dan and I stayed up late preparing our first Thanksgiving turkey. Man those take forever! It was hilarious watching all of us trying to pull everything out of the turkey and to pull the skin from the meat. Sunday Mike, Michelle, Bryan, Lacey Richard, Dan and I all gathered to eat a bountiful feast! I have to say it turned out really well and I have improved my cooking and crafting skills by tenfold!

Wednesday Dan still had to work so I went to Park City with my dad and all the girls and got a little shopping in...(I say little so Dan doesn't have a heart attack haha). Dan, my dad, Brent and Ty all went the the BYU game and then we all chilled that night.
Thursday we went up to the cabin. I just love it up there. If only we could quit our jobs and move there as cabin keepers for a while. It was a small Thanksgiving for the Bishop clan because it was the off year so we only had about half of the group but it was still a blast. O and we got to watch a few episodes of the Dick VanDyke Show. It is still so clever and funny.
Friday we got up early and went to the local fair grounds where my dad's friend Sam has horses. I haven't ridden a horse in a long time but it was a lot of fun. Kelsi and I got a good little gallop in on our horses and all the kids loved it! We then headed to St. George for some Flores Fun! I love the fact that no matter where we go it's always a crazy party. That night Dan's cute sister-in-law Jamee cut and dyed my hair. She cut 6 inches off, it doesn't look like a big change but for me it is huge since I've never done anything to my hair, but I love it!

Saturday Dan got up early and went rock climbing while I went on a bike ride with his mom Primavera, man that woman kicks butt! The weather was perfect and it felt so good to be out. We then went with the family and did a little more shopping, I was able to talk Dan into getting new shiny suave Sunday shoes. I gave him the good 'ol do it for your wife, with a little smile trick. Later on that night all the boys and I went out shooting. It was a lot of fun but I am a terrible shot, I think I only hit 2 clay pigeons while Dan hit a ton, but in my defense I like to think it's because we were on a cliff ha ha. Afterwards we went rock crawling, that was crazy fun and I've never done that in a truck at all! Insane! Later that night we had a BBQ before we went back to Logan. It was a fabulous break and I am grateful for so many things.

                                  Taislee showing us how Dance Dance is done

Shooting

Rock Crawl

Halloween Fun!

I love Halloween. AMC has scary movies on TV all month long, we get to act weird and people think nothing of it and you get to eat candy guilt free (though I do that all the time anyway). One night we carved pumpkins with me, Dan, Mike, Michelle, Dan's friend DJ and his wife Rachel and their two kids Henry and Lottie. I have to admit my patience for pumpkin carving is not very high, though it was a really fun night.

The next day we went to a pumpkin launch, made an audition video for the hilarious TV show "Wipeout" (that one deserves a whole blog post of it's own!) then we went over to Mike and Michelle's friends house and had dinner and carved more pumpkins. We got the best pumpkin ever. It was easy to gut and to carve and it was by far the best carving I've ever done (well Dan helped...I guess). They were so nice to invite us over!

Monday night the business school was putting on a Halloween carnival so we took Alex, Brooklyn, Kylie, Trey and Sawyer. Their costumes were so awesome! We were able to do the bounce house, face painting, bean bag throw, cupcake walk and a few other things. It was really fun to steal kids for Halloween.

Halloween night. Work was crazy so I was really glad when 5p.m. rolled around. We went to a stake chili cook off, with games and then a trunk or treat. We weren't in that stake but rather went with Mike and Michelle since it was their stake. The trunk or treat was actually really cool. Everyone had their cars decorated. Mike and Michelle's was the best! It's hard to tell in the picture but they had dry ice flowing through the back. Mike was the grim reaper, Michelle was a pirate, I was Katniss from Hunger Games and Dan was a Mexican fieldworker. After that we had hot chocolate and watched an old movie called "Flowers in the Attic."

This past weekend (the beginning of November), we went to the cabin to work on the tree house then we went to Cirque de Solei which was awesome! It made me really wanna learn the trapeze. Sunday we had the baby blessing for Eva Jill Ventura. It has been a great month.

Halloween Carnival at USU

Trunk or Treat...

Not the best picture but Mike and Dan are working on the tree house

ouch Dan...

If only I could bend like them!

WIPEOUT!!!

Fall Break:
Oct. 19-21

A lot of my family were going to the Notre Dame vs. BYU game in Chicago and Dan and I weren't going to go so we decided to go to the cabin. The weather was perfect and we went hiking and 4-wheeling and it was so nice to be out of the office, and out of service. We didn't stay too long because I was babysitting for Dave and Mandi and Dan was headed out for a guys climbing trip. It turned out to be a good weekend for both of us. Not our usual go somewhere for fall break but it was still a good weekend. Dan loved climbing again and seeing his buddies, getting older makes it harder to do those things. Though being boys they didn't really take any pictures.
I babysat Madi, Logan and Kate and we had a blast together. We decorated pumpkins, played in the pond, and all sorts of games, had movie nights and more. I was even able to spend some great time with my mom, Staci and Jamie. It felt like I was back home for the summer.

Pumpkin Painting!

Little Acrobats

Um...Mandi/Dave ignore this one ha ha

Dan's only picture from his climbing trip but it sounded like they had a blast!

The Grand Desk
Oct. 12-14

My awesome husband is so good at pretty much everything...he knows how to cook, clean, sew, fix cars, and do everything construction related. He has helped the Bishop side fix many holes and has helped our Brother-in-law Brent build a cool basement. He has always talked about getting into building furniture and things for our future home. He has been using a very sad makeshift desk to do his homework (a clothes dryer and a piece of a shelf) so he finally decided he wanted to make a desk. He was so excited and we spent the weekend buying and building (well, I was there for moral support...but I did stain the first layer!) It turned out really good! It was his first big project but I have to say I am very impressed with his skills. Not to mention he now can really study in style!

He hasn't been able to finish it yet but here is the almost finished version....final product soon to come!

The Time Had Come....
Oct. 5-7

We decided to go back again to St. George to see Dan's family. There was a lot going on, it was his nephew McCoy's baby blessing, his niece and nephews birthday party and it was conference so we figured it would be the perfect weekend to go. On our way we stopped to say hi to my Mom then we also stopped at Jamie's to visit her and to see her new baby girl Eva Jill Ventura, born September 20, 2012 then it was off to St. George, a very familiar drive to us.

To begin this tale we must go back to Fall 2011. Fall 2011 had consisted of many adventures; bear country, reptile gardens, Mt. Rushmore, Devils tower, California, and Zions. After all those adventures the itch for more awesomeness was there. We needed more adventures! So, Dan and I decided we feed the beast and add a little more adventure in our lives, but the question arose, what to do? Should we, sky dive? No, that is for another time. Go diving with sharks? No sharks were available. Do the biggest adventure of all and have a kid? Yeeeeeaaaahhhh NO. We decided to flirt with death and conquer the cliffs of red in St George. We decided to climb a 400 foot cliff in Snow Canyon. So, Dan, Hector (Dan's brother), and I set off on the adventure to climb the mountains of high and attempt the 400 ft. multi-pitch climb known as Leopard Skin. We started the climb, the three of us climbed up the first hundred feet and the problems started. Most multi-pitches are done in pairs of two but with three of us there we went for it. We started the second part and we started having issues, so after a few nerve racking mishaps, I gave up on the climb. When I got to the ground I immediately regretted my decision to quit. I gave myself one year to finish the climb. I have done a little bit of climbing since then but nothing too big. Then I decided enough talking, it was time to do it. My year was almost up and I was feeling ready. We got into St. George around 1:30 a.m. Friday night and got up at 7:00 a.m. Saturday to get there before it got too hot. I was feeling ready. It took us a little bit longer than planned because of the St. George Marathon but we eventually made our way there. It was the perfect day, the weather was beautiful, nobody was around (unlike last year when there were a lot of climbers there puttin on the pressure) I was in my climbing gear as opposed to pajamas (I thought they would be comfy last year ha ha) and the camera was ready to go (or so I thought). I took a moment and sat, taking in the cool morning air, and said to myself, "self, you will not quit." I stood, took a deep breath and it began...

Dan was the lead and helped me through the first pitch which is the trickiest because it overhangs so you feel like you're gonna fall, but when you get over the hang it is a very secure ledge. That's when the go-pro died. We had left our phones and our video camera at the bottom and I lost our regular camera. It was too late to go back and I was seriously so bummed out because I now couldn't record my epic adventure.

Dan climbed to the second pitch which is a little tricky as well because you have to traverse (climb sideways) first then go up, you step off a very secure ledge onto the wall about 100 ft. up, it was about this time that I started to get nervous but Dan is a great sensai and I trust him and his wisdom completely. I stepped out off the ledge and that's when I got the feel of it, I felt like I was actually doing pretty well, not just clinging to the wall in sheer terror. On the other pitches you are anchored into the wall and you belay the person from that anchor, so I'm up a few hundred feet dangling on a wall with Dan's life in my hands....that made me sweat just a little bit but I tried to play it cool. After I really started climbing I wasn't nervous anymore (as long as I didn't get a good look below me). We reached the peak and it's not too big of a ledge so you don't unharness yourself but the view was beautiful and it was so quiet because it was just us two up so high. Then we had to rappel down which was actually a lot of fun, I even rappelled myself on the last one as opposed to Dan lowering me from up top. I felt so revitalized after that. I was outside in nature overcoming a fear. It was a great 3 hours.

The rest of the weekend was also great! We went to Dan's little brother Jethro's football game and to the birthday party, Dan took me shopping and we were able to watch conference and spend time with his family. It has been a while since we have used our drive to talk the whole way, usually I get really tired and sleep while Dan listens to his book on tape but we talked the whole way and 5 really fast hours later we pulled up to our apartment....Logan is freezing compared to St. George and after a hot shower, hot chocolate, sweats and two blankets later (not to mention the fight to who gets to have their feet warmed up by the other) we watched "The Middle" and went to bed, very content from another great weekend.

Family Fun
Sept 29

Both Dan and I have gone to Utah State for a few years now and we never did the best tradition that the Aggies have....True Aggie night. I had gone up a few times but kissing strangers was not my thing so I just watched. But we decided we have to at least once, at least to show a small amount of school spirit, so we went up and it was packed, made me realize I am definitely not a college girl anymore but we finally got to cross off becoming a True Aggie from our list.

My cute niece Alex is on a competition soccer team and I have been trying to find a time that my mom could come up and go rock climbing for a long time so since Alex had a game on Saturday my Mom, Dad, Staci and Brock all came up. We went to the soccer game which Alex rocked, then afterward we had a BBQ, who doesn't love a good BBQ? Then Dan took us all up the canyon to go rock climbing. It was my moms first officially time not on an indoor climb and she did awesome! She got a few scrapes and even a little blood but she rocked (pun intended) that climb! I was also very impressed with my Dad. He was sprawled on that rock and is tall and strong so he basically pulled himself up the whole way. Staci did a great job but Brock was the funniest...he is deathly afraid of heights and so he literally climbed that as fast as possible, he looked like he was in a sheer panic, especially on the rappel. Dan taught them all about climbing and took care of them all. We had a blast!

Brock

Papa Brent

Grandmaster

Sassy Pants

Hola Mexico!
Sept. 14-17

Dan got a call early Friday morning and was told that his grandpa had passed away. He lived in Mexico and Dan would tell me great stories about him. So we decided to go to the funeral. We both had to work so right after work we hurried and grabbed our stuff and headed out for a 18 hour drive one way to Mexico for a quick weekend. 10:30 a.m. Dan decided we're going to Mexico....5:00 p.m. We are on the road.
We drove Friday night to St George and then got up at 5:30 a.m. to continue driving. We were able to stop in San Diego and see Brandon, Chelsea and their little 2 month old Navy. Then we drove all Saturday to Mexico. It was cool, I have never driven there so it was fun to drive through all the towns and to see the pretty coastline.
Saturday night we got there a little late from stopping so much. We were able to see all of Dan's family and his Parent's community. I don't speak Spanish very well but everyone was so nice. Sunday we were able to go to church, eat at little taco stands, go to the beach (I went clam digging for the first time!) and then we went to the viewing which was a new experience, I was excited to see more of the Mexican culture and I told Dan that I want to go back for more cultural experiences.
Monday we had to be gone by 7:00 a.m. since we had to make it back to Logan that night. It is about an 18 hour drive but with stops and things it took us about 20 hours if not longer because there was a 2 hour wait just to get through the border. I had to go to the bathroom and we were almost to the official border but I ran anyway. I couldn't find the car again and wandered right up to where cars are supposed to stop to be searched and I told the guards I lost my car, it was actually really funny. Luckily as I was on my way to the walk through section I saw Dan, a little nervous that I had gotten lost in Mexico.
Dan drove to San Diego but the night before he had been throwing up and super sick, we later found out that a lot of people there had gotten sick. I gave him some Tylenol p.m. so he could get some sleep and he slept from San Diego to Logan, waking up on occasion to eat and go to the bathroom. I drank an energy drink and listened to about 4 hours of drive time Spanish until we finally pulled up to our apartment at 4:00 a.m. We both had to be up at 7:30 a.m. and we are both beat but man was it a great road-trip!

2 countries
4 states
over 2200 miles.....good weekend!

Finally home....

*pictures are scarce since I lost my camera but I have a few to post when I can get to it.

NRC/St. George and more:
August 25-Sept 4

Wow, I have had a really fun week and half, thanks to my amazing hubby who works so hard and allows me to play so much. My dad is a Utah Delegate and asked me if I wanted to go to the National Republican Convention with him in Tampa Florida. Of course I wanted to go but I was thinking a week of politics would be kind of boring but I was wrong. I had such a blast! I learned so much and loved every minute of it....I even gave up a whole free spa day (facials, massages, yoga, food) because I wanted to hear the speakers of the day.
Dave was in town for some business so he was able to meet us so I gave him my guest pass for the first night of the convention, so I went to a movie, the mall, swimming then watched the convention on TV in the hotel room. I was cheering when I heard Anne Romney's speech and was excited that we got to be a part of it. I was able to sneak down onto the floor the second night and even made it onto the jumbo tron. The last night the speakers were amazing. I have so many great memories and awesome stories from that week. We were having dinner with the Lt. Governor and an old veteran and a young veteran came up to us and started talking about what they were doing in Florida to get people to vote...they even threw in some nice comments about Mormons ;) whether someone is a Republican or not I just think we live in the greatest place on earth and I am excited to practice the right to vote.
I got back at 9pm on Friday night the 31st. Dan worked until 9:30 and right when we both got to Farmington we packed our bags and drove (Dan drove) to St. George for the weekend. We had a blast! We got to hang out with his family (I lost our camera otherwise I would have pictures.) His brother and Brother-in-law took us shooting, Dan was able to bless his niece Olivia and we even went rock climbing which was a blast! St. George is always a good getaway.
I had a meeting in Salt Lake on Tues Sept 4 so my mom and I decided to go to Hot Yoga. It's yoga but in a really hot room and it's not so "find inner peace" as it is to get your whole body in balance. It was hard....and HOT but it was so much fun! That night I was able to see Jasmine, Brittany and Lacey again...They made me dinner and gave me some of their favorite recipes for my birthday. I have such great friends!

And so it begins!!!

I made it onto the floor with the Utah Delegates

My dad being interviewed for the 4th time

I loved her speech!

The infamous chair speech....

There were TONS of balloons, this doesn't do it justice!

Such a fun experience....ya I know, I'm upside down but I don't know how to fix it haha.

Boating!
August 20 2012

I love love love boating. I used to go at the very least once a week in the summer but it has been a lot harder to go as I've gotten older. I was lucky enough to have a day off the same time that Dave/Mandi and the kids decided to go so I was able to join them. It was a blast! Poor Dan was working away while I played but I'm determined to get him out for a good day of boating! :)