Company & Convention, PART 3

The Bishop & The Leist

I would never presume to call them such, but since that's what they call themselves it seemed like a fitting title. :-)

WE HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH THEM!!! With all due respect, they are the craziest old ladies I've ever been around in my life! Ha! It's amazing how they can be so nuts... and yet be so amazingly respectable. It would take me all day to try to explain all of the ways they're insane (ha!) and all of the ways I so deeply admire them spiritually--and even the way they carry themselves. To sum it up, all I can say is that I want to be just like them some day when I grow up! :-) I just love them to death. The kids fell in love with them, too, and we all wished they could have stayed longer. We're so thankful they were able to stay with us a couple of days after Convention just to visit. We'll always remember fondly--with lots of laughter--our time with them. :-)

These pictures were actually taken before Convention, I think. Sister Bishop and Joe spent a LOT of time with guitars sitting in their laps. She taught him a whole lot of things and she declares he taught her a few, too. I don't know about any of that, but I do know they both seemed to enjoy the "lessons" quite a bit.

Sister Bishop wanted to trade hats with Sam, but he just wasn't willing to wear the pink one. Ha!
Joe decided he'd be a good sport and wear it. :-)
Sister Bishop & Katie sitting out front, enjoying the nice weather.
On Monday, we spent most of the day just sitting on the porch visiting. We were all tired from Convention and just wanted to relax. The weather was beautiful and we sat out there by the hour, just talking. :-) I made potato soup for lunch and we set out sandwich stuff.

That afternoon I asked Sister Bishop to teach me how to make fried chicken like a southerner. :-) She was a little bothered to discover I didn't have any buttermilk (naturally!), but said we could make due with sweet milk and vinegar. When the chicken was done we loaded up the picnic basket with potato salad and watermelon and whatever else we had and headed up into the mountains for an evening picnic.

The kids always run straight to the top of this rather steep mountain and Sister Bishop was determined to join them, Sister Leist hollering after her all the while to get back down here, that she was going to break her neck. Ha!

We never found out how far Sister Bishop would have been able to make it because she slipped on those leaves (probably the next step after the picture was taken) and slid do a gentle and uninjured (thank goodness!) stop. We laughed a while and finally got her back down to the picnic table where maybe she'd behave herself. Of course, it wasn't long before she was teaching the kids how to spit watermelon seeds and outdoing all three of them. HA! She's so cool. :-)

When we finished eating we piled into the van and started driving up to the crest. Right next to the picnic grounds where we had eaten there was a car stopped in the road and the driver was staring up the hill. He said there was a great big bear up there--he'd just seen it. Wow! We've always heard there are a whole bunch of bears up there, but never have seen one in all the time we've lived here. We looked for quite a while and finally Sister Leist and Katie started screaming that they saw the bear, but it was only for a second and the rest of us missed it. We thought that was pretty exciting!

Until we drove about a mile up the road and look!!!

This little guy crossed the road right in front of us! How cool is that?!
Here's the view, yet again, from the top. Seems like I post the same pictures a lot, but that's because there are only so many FREE things you can take people to see when they come to visit, you know?! Ha! Anyway, I love this ridge. :-)
Overlooking Albuquerque...
Not sure what they were cracking up over at this point, but one of them was probably saying to the other, "You're not my mother. You can't tell ME what to do." HA! They're NUTS, I'm telling you!
James & Sister Bishop
I took this on as we drove back down the mountain. The scenery is so pretty that time of day.

Of course, once Sister Leist had seen TWO bears she was just convinced they were crawling all over the mountain and was determined to see #3. And everything she saw was a bear--the rocks, the tree trunks, everything. Ha! When we got back home and James stopped to get the mail, there was a sign saying that a bear had been spotted just a few blocks from our house. If THAT didn't throw the ladies into a tizzy! As excited as they were about seeing the bears, they were at least that nervous, too--and were just sure one was going to crawl over or through our fence and come eat the children. "Brother James, do you own a gun???" Ha!

We stayed up and visited quite a while that night. James called us out front to look at the stars because they were sooooooooo bright that night, so we all stood around in the yard looking into the sky for a good long while. And tried to convince Sister Bishop that THAT is the Big Dipper. She said she KNOWS what the Big Dipper looks like and that just ain't it... although the rest of us could see it plain as anything. We spent quite a while talking and laughing and trying to convince her, but to no avail. :-)

The next day we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast (they tasted good, though they didn't rise like they're supposed to!) and then headed into town to take the ladies to the Botanical Gardens, since they're both such big flower buffs. We drove them through Old Town and they thought that was pretty neat, but were anxious to see the flowers, so we drove on. We got there and it took us a good ten or fifteen minutes to even make it to the entrance because they we kept chasing this roadrunner around trying to get a good picture of him (it was their first time to see a roadrunner) and they oohed and aahed at the bush outside for the longest time before we actually went in. :-)

They were soooooo fun to watch. They were as excited about the flowers and trees and bushes as I've ever seen any kid about animals at the zoo. They were hilarious--bending and stooping and talking in botanical language completely foreign to me. It was so much fun to watch them!
Aren't they both just so beautiful??? I JUST LOVE THEM TO DEATH. :-)
Here's Katie in the cactus garden
We had a wonderful time there, but it was soooooooooo hot. Upper 90's, at least--maybe even into the 100's. We all started getting overheated and tired and Sister Bishop found this particular specimen (the fan) worthy of her attention for a few minutes. We were in the butterfly pavilion at the time.
After we had finished up at the Botanical Gardens we walked over to the aquarium (it's a combo ticket) to enjoy some good air conditioning! Sister Bishop pointed out several of the stuffed fish on the wall as species that she has caught before and had great stories to go with them. I am just AMAZED at how much she and Sister Leist know--they seem to know sooooooo much about EVERYTHING. They are just a wealth of information about whatever subject seems to come up. Makes me realize that I really ought to be more inquisitive and curious or I'll grow up to be a dumb old lady one day! They really are incredible.
This was the biggest, ugliest puffer fish I've ever seen in my life!
We took the ladies to Furr's for lunch, since they'd never been to one. They seemed to enjoy it and we had a really good visit with them there. We got home in the early afternoon and most of us adults went to take a short nap--all of the walking in that heat had zapped all of us! As I was cooking dinner that night, Sister Bishop was out front playing with the kids again. She had brought a bag of balloons for them and they would all stand in a line and blow one up, then take turns releasing them and letting them zip around--in an effort to hit Sister Leist, who was sitting on the porch bench directly in front of them.
They'd collect their balloons, stand in their line, blow them up again, then take a giant step forward to try again to hit her. Ha! The balloons kept whizzing every direction except toward the intended target. Sister Bishop said, "We're gonna take one more giant step forward and try again. And if that don't work I'll tell you what we're gonna do... We're gonna walk right over to that hose and fill 'em up and try it again!" Ha! They never did include water in their game, but it continued for quite a while. I went inside to work on dinner some more and when I glanced out the window, Sister Bishop and the kids were standing RIGHT in front of Sister Leist with their balloons just a few inches away from her face, ready to try again! HA!

That night we stayed up visiting and watching old Church videos until way too late. James even showed them where they can find and buy some old Church books online and we placed an order for the two of them. :-)

The next morning we loaded up and headed into town to take them to the airport. They insisted on going to Home Depot first, and then Wal-Mart, but were unable to find what they were looking for. So they gave James some cash and told him that they wanted him to find some knockout rose bushes--two of them, red or pink; not yellow--and even told him where in our yard they want us to plant them. :-) Is that not just so thoughtful?! James has looked and couldn't find any in town, so he ordered some today. We'll get them planted right where the ladies told us and we'll think of them and the wonderful time we had with them every time we see those knockout roses. Of course, we'll probably call them body slam roses instead. HA!

I only wish I could express how blessed and encouraged I feel after getting to know such wonderful ladies as Sister Bishop and Sister Leist. I've "known" them for years, but never had a chance to spend any real time with them until now. My life is richer because of it. They are wonderful--both of them--and I feel so blessed to have had this time with them. My kids, too--they think they are just terrific!

The only other news around here is that Sam was sick and now Joe is. Nothing serious, but Sam spent a day in bed with a fever and a headache and today seems to be Joe's day. He had a fever last night and trouble sleeping. He's been laying around all day today, still in his pj's. The fever comes and goes but his head hurts consistently. He had some soup for lunch and watched a movie this afternoon, then took another nap. Now he's just laying there, not even reading a book. You know Joe doesn't feel good if he's not even reading! Ha! So if you would please, say a prayer for God to heal him and protect the rest of us. :-)