The Book of Bishop

Now behold, it came to pass in the commencement of the eleventh month of the reign of the five Bishop boys, an exhausted mother and father attempted to keep on top of the arduous task of keeping a house and entertaining five spirited boys.

A small one answering to the name of Jace, had the single-most talent of destroying anything in his path either with his brute strength, for he was unnaturally strong for his age, or with the wiles of his small two-year-old mind. On many occasions he was found on top of a high object such as the kitchen island, the washing machine, or the top bunk found in the bunk house at the end of the home on Indian Rain. On one particular morning, the mother had to throw all of her plans of grocery shopping and post office errands to clean up the strategically sprinkled laundry soap after a chance happening with All and a little, green scoop. Who knew that those green scoops could entertain for so long? After the mess was created, the mother just allowed the fun to continue for it kept the wee one from other messes for the time being and it allowed her to put sheets on the bed before tackling the aforementioned disaster area.

Wherefore, the mother of this little elf-like boy still loved him dearly, for no one in the world gave tight squeezes such as his. And the Father hath shown great wisdom in creating such angelic faces and crafting such precious speech development in the world’s two year old population to keep them alive despite their parents’ frustrations.

And it shall be said that the oldest of these boys, Aiden, loved his school days and delighted in the pleasure of the company of his peers. The six, including the mother and the five children, enjoyed a party for a classmate at the park, and behold, the mother’s eyes were opened. For one, the children came to adore, the boy named Aiden and it was his attention that the others at the party sought. Unbeknownst to Aiden, he was singled out and invited to all the various festivities, and he basked in the positive interactions of his peers. Popular and clueless is a pleasant combination, and, therefore, this six-year-old had no idea how favored he was. Perhaps this trend may cease, but a mother can hope that it will continue, for a humble, clueless young man may be a quality worth possessing when the ladies begin to call upon him in years to come.

If thou art called to pass through disaster with one’s eyebrow, Gage answered the call. Yet again, this young boy raged with the furniture, and the furniture won- and yea, it raged with his eye once more. While practicing his stealthy Batman acrobatics, Gage tumbled into the TV cabinet. A blood curdling cry escaped his tongue and blood spurt from the slice above his left eye. With tutoring students coming in minutes, the mother was preparing the meal for later and really did not want to drop it all to spend six hours in the Quick Care. Do you really need stitches? The tears began to dry in a short time, and the mother ascertained that if stitches were necessary, perhaps the face could be sown AFTER tutoring, dinner, and the father returned home. And, lo, a doctor in the ER was upon the Bishop family in just a few hours, for the tutoring students that were in route were the children of an ER doctor. The students were sufficiently taught and, hark, the doctor did come to retrieve his children. The mother candidly asked the fine physician if stitches were required. After taking a look, he said, “Oh, yes, but I have Permabond in the car and that should do the trick.” What fortune. The kitchen island was made into a make-shift table with just a pillow. It took both the father and the mother holding Gage down for the ER doctor to adequately administer the glue, but a few weeks after the disastrous day, Gage looks great and only a small pinkish line remains.

And now behold, the second born child too has a tale to tell. Young Grey accompanied his father home teaching and after the visits, the father took his child to Wal-Mart to preview some Christmas gifts, for the season is upon us. They walked up and down the toy aisle looking at Lego sets, tackling the Transformers, scrutinizing the superheroes, examining the Express Engine, considering the cars, sizing the cycles, and probing for present ideas. With plastic tubs in hand and only plastic tubs, Greyson questions his father, “We looked at all those things, and you are not buying me anything?” With a smirk on his face, the father replies, “Nope, it is Christmas!”

And now I bid the final details of the smallest of the Bishop boys. And again, as with all the Bishop babies, young Cooper is considerably larger than all other babies his age. This young one, just a week from his fifth month, is fully filling his 12 month clothing. And behold, when Cooper is beheld, no one can believe that he is still a four month old baby. Huge and heart warming, this baby flashes his gummy smile to everyone, and mother enjoys every moment with him. This week he ventured off with his parents for a conference in Denver. He flew on his first airplane, visited the US Mint, enjoyed frozen custard hours after his mother enjoyed it, and just generally enjoyed all the attention from both his mother and father since the remaining four were with their grandmother in Las Vegas. And it came to pass, that a grateful daughter gives a billion thank yous to her mother for allowing her this experience. Mitch had a Groundwater Conference in Denver and Coop and mom got to go along for the ride.

And again, we must comment on one other trip we have had this month in the city of Saint George for the holiday of Thanksgiving. The seven journeyed up to the quaint little city in hopes of spending time with 65 others. The Great grandmother, in her ninety-second year hosted Thanksgiving and the masses joined her. We had a cousin campout for three nights playing UNO, wrestling on air mattresses, and eating whatever we could find in the cupboards. Seventeen of us stayed in a condo in Green Valley, Saint George and we treasure the memories that were created! The boys are already requesting a return trip!

And behold, I bid you all a farewell. I do offer my apologies that I do not get time to pen these as often as I would like anymore, but I do hope you enjoy them all the same. I do look forward to reading all the Christmas letters that arrive during this season. And with that, I close.