Let the summer begin and other thoughts

Today is the first day of Summer and it finally feels like it. It's only taken like forever. Even yesterday with the 40 mile an hour winds (o.k. I exaggerate) But it was really hard. It was a cold wind which caused me to be cold wearing a jacket all day. This morning I woke up hoping for no wind. I hate jogging in the wind. I hate hills too and I have both. But this morning it was a calm, sunny morning. My friend, Teri Gilk, came and Britni and Teri and I went jogging. Teri is injured so she did very little jogging but once she gets to the Chiropractor then she will be unstoppable and beating Britni and I. Today I pushed myself to 3 miles. I still had to walk up 3 of the 4 hills and I had around the same time as the 5K that I did a month ago. So I haven't gone backwards but I haven't improved my time at all. But I have improved my mileage. Small baby steps is what I have to take or I will not keep doing it. So my baby step today is the 3 miles instead of the 2.5 that I have been doing. My body really hurts though. I have found that if I eat refined sugar that my body gets arthritic type symptoms. I have been eating sugar for the past couple of weeks. And I now hurt a lot. So I am back to Sugar Free and I will be the rest of my life I have decided. I need to go buy some sugar free pudding cups. I still need to have my treats. I am so glad that there are so many options for sugar free now days. It makes it so much easier to do this. It will take about a week to get it all out of my system though. But I am not going to quit exercising. I have to do this. No Pain No Gain!! On the day that my husband was called as Stake President, a friend of mine called and said I want to give you a car. It's a 93 Honda Civic. Perfect for Britni to drive. She just has to learn to drive a stick. We found out yesterday that it will cost over $300 to fix the brake problem and it also needs new tires. But if that is all it is going to cost for Britni to have a car and be able to help take kids places when Lynn is gone then I think it will be worth it. We have already used it for this purpose. I hope that is all we are going to have to do to it right now. For a free car we can't complain. Jacob and Daniel leave for their Washington D.C. trip very early Saturday morning. (Like 1:30 a.m.) We are letting them spend the night (which they won't be sleeping at all probably) with some friends who are going on the trip so we don't have to take them to the school that early in the morning. They will be going to D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, and New York City. It will be quite an experience for my little hickster boys. :) I really wish that I could have gone also but it just cost too much. Maybe they will do it again when Benjamin and Samuel get older and then I will be able to go. Have a Happy Summer Day today!!!

Daniel's 8th Grade Graduation

I am still amazed that the school my kids go to is so small that they hold 8th grade Graduation. The Middle School in Goldendale doesn't even do that. Here are some photo highlights. Daniel didn't look up or smile much through the whole thing. I don't think he liked all the attention. However, he got a nice gift card from the school for doing the School's Website all year long. That was very nice of them. He was escorting Cheyenne Dove on the processional. Now Summer is here!! Let the Chores Begin!! :)

Stake President What?????

Pretty shocking Stake Conference last weekend. I will confirm that my husband, Lynn is now the Stake President for The Dalles Oregon Stake. Here is the News Release from our Public Affairs people that they put on their blog. New Stake Presidency Called to Serve The Dalles Stake This weekend at our stake conference, Elder Yoon Hwan Choi of the First Quorum of the Seventy and Elder Brad Risenmay, an Area Authority Seventy for the North America Northwest Area, reorganized The Dalles, Oregon Stake. Acting under the direction of President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Choi and Elder Risenmay released Thaynan Knowlton, Duane Francis, and Jason Corey, and after interviewing bishops, high councilors, and other priesthood leaders in the stake, called a new stake presidency. At the general session of stake conference on Sunday morning, members of The Dalles Oregon Stake were asked to sustain Lynn Bischoff (Goldendale) as the new Stake President. Troy Whittle (White Salmon) was sustained as the First Counselor, and John Brennan (Hood River) was sustained as the Second Counselor. While sharing their testimonies after the releasings and sustainings, President Francis said it had been "a singular privilege, a great honor and blessing" to serve in the stake presidency. President Knowlton said that, as a stake president, "You kind of look at the whole stake as your family," and told of how he and his counselors had prayed for all the members of the stake. After speaking of his youth milking cows, President Bischoff said he wondered, "What can I have to offer?" Then he humbly said that the "spirit confirmed to me that, for whatever reason, the Lord has called an Idaho farm boy. . . to be here." He then shared his testimony of Joseph Smith, saying that in 1820, the Lord called another farm boy to do His work. The conference also included powerful testimonies by both Elder Choi and Elder Risenmay that Heavenly Father knew who He wanted the new stake president to be, and that they had come to The Dalles not to pick the new president themselves, but to receive revelation from the Lord on His choice. "And we have received it," Elder Risenmay confirmed. We are all still a little shocked and getting used to Lynn being called President Bischoff. Dad is wondering if this is the start of the next trend for the Morgan Family. As in all my brothers being Bishops at the same time??? Wouldn't that be interesting!! :) Best get going. Have a Super day!! :)

Where is Summer??

I don't know about the rest of the country but here in Goldendale we get teased a lot with the weather!! One week it is beautiful with 70's and 80's weather. Then it is cold, rainy and icky for the rest of the time. In my opinion that is just not nice. It has been a couple of months since I have written so I will try to catch everyone up. O.k. I can't remember that far back. So sad. My memory is going. I will give highlights though. Britni went to an LDS Prom in Vancouver. She was quite beautiful. She borrowed her dress from her cousin so she saved some money there. :) The boys have been boys and are growing up way too quickly. Daniel is almost 5'11" now with a shoe size of 13. Jacob just is wishing himself to grow. His time will come but not yet. They are excited about the end of school. Daniel graduates from the 8th grade on Monday night. Then school is out for the boys on Tuesday. Britni however, has to go until Friday of next week. Lynn got his IPAD for his Birthday. He loves it, the kids love it, I love it!! It's well loved. It's nice to be able to check e-mails and get online anytime, even if the kids are on the computer. His company recently got him and the stalwart workers the new IPHONE. So they took my old icky cell phone away. Lynn decided that I need a cell phone so we got a tracfone for me. It's nice and I get to text. Which is fun. So now Lynn is all techy!! I had a dental procedure done at the end of April. I had a part of my gums removed from my top front teeth. My crowns were impinging on the gums and they always were swollen. Now no swelling. However, I had had to wait 3 months to get new crowns put on. So my front teeth look icky until then. That will happen next month. My dentist assures my that I will love it. We will see. I FINALLY was called in to sub as a para pro at the Middle School. One day a month ago, they couldn't get a hold of Carmine who usually does the subbing in the Library there. So they called me. I went in not knowing what I was doing but I learned and enjoyed every minute of it. So on my own, I went to the librarian and got trained to do the job. They called me a couple of weeks ago to sub while MAPS testing was going on. What was suppose to be a one week gig ended up being a 10 day gig!! It was great and not so great. I had to teach lessons which is like teaching Sunday School. Some classes were better than others that is for sure. But in the end the kids seemed to like me. I hope to be called in again sometime. I did realize though in that time frame that I don't want a full time job right now. I ended up missing my boys Spring concert that they do because I was working. All I can say is it was a good experience for me. Not much else going on. The rest of this month will be kids going and coming. Britni has Basketball camp the week after school is out. Benjamin has Cub Scout Twilight Camp that same week. Daniel and Jacob leave for their Washington D.C. trip the week after that. And Britni will have Youth Conference. I really wish that Daniel would be able to go to Youth Conference but he will be in D.C. at the time. The rest of the Summer will be unknown pretty much. I need to figure out something fun to do with the kids as a family. Maybe end up camping. We will see. Have a great summer!!

General Conference

I love General Conference. However, I am sad to say that I remember the time when I didn't like General Conference, which was when I was a teenager. I think it all changed when I was a Junior in High School and President Ezra Taft Benson gave his talk on Pride. I was so affected by that talk and the spirit confirmed to me that Ezra Taft Benson was a Prophet of God. Since then I have gone to conference or watched on our T.V. or from our computer every year.

I love to hear what topics the prophets and apostles feel we need to hear for the next 6 months. Then I love getting the Ensign and reading and marking all the talks with the things that I need to remember. However, another confession, I am sad to say that I just barely finished last conferences Ensign this passed week!! I will do better this time. I promise.

What was even better this time with General Conference was the fact that my Son, Daniel, decided that since he was 14 years old, that he should watch all the sessions of Conference and take notes!!! He is such a great example for his brothers. Britni has watched Conference for several years now. It is great to have such faithful children.

We also borrowed the movie 17 Miracles from some friends and watched it the other night. It was such a good movie. It was so sad yet it made me think. It made me think that maybe I have little miracles occur each day that I don't realize are miracles. I am truly grateful to those pioneers who sacrificed their lives and families for the gospel. They were strengthened so much. Just as we are strengthened when we need to be.

Truly an uplifting weekend!!

Parent /Teacher Conferences

It's that time of year again when we get to go to Parent Teacher Conferences. I really do enjoy going to these conferences and talking to the teachers about my children. I really appreciate all of the teachers that my kids have. They work so hard for our children.

Yesterday was the boys conferences. Usually the school will put the conferences either youngest to oldest or vice versa. Not this time. We started with Jacob. Jacob still has pretty good grades. He barely squeaked by with his reading grade (for our family that's not having a C). But at least he made it. I think he's my procrastinator.

Daniel was suppose to be next but his teacher was a whole conference behind schedule. So I walked to by Benjamin's teacher who was in a conference and then went downstairs to Samuel's teacher who was free. She fit me in so I didn't have to wait.

Samuel is doing very well in 1st grade. He keeps saying how easy 1st grade is. So I told his teacher who made a note to give him some extra work that will challenge him a little more. He is excited for that. He exceeds in Math and Reading. And he does very well with the other subjects as well.

I was able to do Benjamin's next. Daniel's teacher wasn't done with the person before Daniel. His teacher this wouldn't take too long. Benjamin does very well in all areas. She is mainly just happy to have a student who completes his work and doesn't cause problems. It must be a pretty rough class.

Now for Daniel. Daniel has the highest GPA in his class a 3.55. That is pretty sad. His teacher is a hard teacher but he prepares the kids very well for High School. All the kids who have had this teacher has said that High School is easy compared to his class. He advised Daniel to retake Algebra next year. He is getting a B in Algebra but doesn't seem to understand the concepts. He also advised Daniel to try Cross Country Track in the Fall to get him in shape for Basketball. He also advised Daniel to take weight lifting. hehe!! We will see what Daniel chooses when the counselor from the High School comes to sign them up for classes for next year.


Today was Britni's conference. I wonder why I even go to her conferences. She does a Student Led Conference. It's suppose to help the kids be responsible for their grades and their future. Britni is such an over achiever that I really don't worry about her so much. She has straight A's again. She's well on her way to Valedictorian. Way to go Brit!!

Over all pretty good conferences. I must say Congratulations to my niece Kliss who just had a beautiful baby boy!!!

Next week is Spring Break here. Enjoy!!

Blogger's block or something like that

I guess you could say that I have bloggers block. I'm always a little shy about what I write. I mostly write for my family and friends that live far away. So I am now trying to figure out what has been happening in our family since I last wrote. We are done with sports for a while. It's nice to have a break from the craziness of it all. However, the boys are crazier than ever. I have come to realize that sports really do help with all that pent up energy that boys have. I am so happy that Lynn finally got the basketball hoop up last year. The boys are out there all the time on the nice days shooting hoops. Our soccer net however has seen better days. We will have to fix it one of these day. The Parent/Kid basketball game is tomorrow night. I will be home, I hope. I only played the year that Britni was in 8th grade. Lynn played last year and had a good time. He loves Basketball.

Lynn was gone for part of the week last week. His Grandmother passed away. He drove to Idaho on Wednesday and came home on Friday. During that time, I scraped the wall paper border off of my bathroom and then painted my bathroom. I also had my haircut while he was gone. So Lynn had quite the surprise when he got home. I just wish that I could have slept while he was gone. I never sleep when he is gone. I was hoping that with all the work in the bathroom that I did that I would be so tired that I would sleep. That didn't work.

The greatest thing that I did this past week was go with my friend, Carollynn, and her family to the Temple. They were sealed to their daughter, Kayla and son, Patrick. Now they are an eternal family. I was also there for their daughter Tiffany to be sealed to her husband. Tiffany is very pregnant and wanted to be sealed before her baby was born. It was a great day!!!

This week will be parent teacher conferences. I enjoy going and visiting with the teachers and seeing what my kids have been up to in their classes.

Well, I hope that everyone has a great week.

Old Schtuff and New Schtuff

It seems to be that time in our lives when things start to break, wear out, or just quit working. So it is with a few of my necessities of life.

Our Microwave door broke about 2 weeks ago. It still worked but you had to slam it shut in order to get it to close all the way so you could cook stuff. As my Mom will attest, I use my microwave a lot. In fact, she had to buy me one when I went to college so I wouldn't starve. :) On Tuesday, my husband had to go to The Dalles for his Presidency meeting. He left early enough so he could buy us a new microwave. Britni and I had already picked it out. :) It's shiny with lots of new buttons. We are having fun learning how to work this one. :)

Next, I broke my crock pot a month or more ago. I have been lost without my crock pot. I use it all the time or I did until it broke. So on Saturday while Lynn was playing on the computer he ordered me a new one online. It came yesterday!! Yea!! It is shiny and has lots of buttons too. It's digital. Way cool!! I can't wait to use it!! :)

However, before all of this happened. Our telephones started to die on us. We have had them several years. The kids even lost one of them last year. We swear that they buried it outside somewhere. We expected a dog to dig it up but that never happened. Anyway, the batteries just started dying in all of them. So when we went on our Portland trip to the Temple, we stopped at Best Buy and looked at phones and batteries. The batteries were just as much as if we bought a new phone system. So we ended up buying a new phone system (at Costco actually) we were comparison shopping and Costco had it cheaper.

I am hoping that nothing more breaks or dies on us. At lease these were relatively insignificant compared to what it could be. I don't dare mention all the possibilities. I might jinx myself.

I will now go use my shiny new microwave to make my lunch. Have a fun and happy Sunshiny day!! :)

Happy 14th Birthday Daniel

I was suppose to write this on Sunday when Daniel actually turned 14 but I got the flu that night and have done nothing since then. Now that I am back among the living, I will write about my Daniel!!

Daniel is an amazing young man. He is growing up so fast not just his height which he is taller than his Dad now. But also spiritually and mentally. He can still be goofy Daniel when he wants to be. But for the most part he is a great example for his little brothers. He loves Basketball and sports in general. He loves his family. He stands strong among his friends. He may get lax in his school work at times but he will work hard to get them back up when need be. I am truly grateful that Daniel is a part of our family. I love him so.

Here's the latest pictures of him with his sis!! Happy Birthday Daniel!!!

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday was our 17th Anniversary. We usually stay overnight in Portland or something like that but it didn't work out this year. So we went to Portland to go to the Temple and then we went shopping. Lots of shopping. We stocked up on items that were getting low. We looked at tablets and laptops but decided to wait until we see what the Ipad 3 is going to have before buying. And then we went to Ross to get me some "work" pants in case I ever get called in to substitute. It was depressing to find out that you have to buy a bigger size. But now I know that I need to be more serious about losing weight. I haven't been this heavy in about 4 years. Britni tells me to just go on her diet where she is so busy that she hardly eats all day. But then eats a big bowl of ice cream every night to make up for it. She said I could skip the ice cream part since I'm trying to lose weight. Now that I have digressed from the topic.

We had an enjoyable time at the temple and then ate at Olive Garden and did lots of shopping as the paragraph above describes. We left at 6:30 a.m. and got home at 7:30 p.m. Very long, exhausting day. But it was fun to just be together on our own without our kids.

Today Daniel and Jacob are headed back to Portland to go to The Globetrotters basketball game. Boy Scouts got a discount on seats. They are very excited.

Date? What's that?

Lynn and I had an actual date on Friday night. He came home from work on Friday and said Let's go to The Dalles and go out to eat and shop. So we did. We went to the restaurant at the Shilo Inn. We had never been there before and we were told they had good food. But it was pretty expensive. It also overlooked the river. So we had a great view. We had the place to ourselves. It's the off season for the wind surfers and vacationers. Then we went shopping. I haven't been to The Dalles for shopping in about a month. All I have been doing is buying the necessities in Goldendale. Milk, bread, eggs, cheese, etc. It was fun and we now have food!!

Saturday we went to the World wide Leadership meeting in the morning and then spent the day as a family. It was a good day.

Today was Ward Conference. They talked a lot about Unity and also about Indexing. There is a push in Salt Lake to get Indexing done. So Lynn and I are now signed up for Indexing. WE want Britni and Daniel to do it also. The push is also to get the youth involved, like Elder Bednar said in conference. Their texting fingers were made for more than texting, they were made for indexing.

I am hoping for no fog this week. so far so good. Enjoy your week my family and friends.

Recap

I know it has been a long time since the last post. I'm not sure whether to recap you on what has been going on or just give you the highlights. I think I will just give you the highlights.

The end of the quarter/semester is here. All the kids have done great in school. Britni is still a 4.0! Great Job with being able to handle sports and school Brit! Daniel had the 3rd or 4th highest GPA in the school. Great job Daniel. However, Jacob beat him. Jacob had the highest GPA for Centerville School last quarter. Centerville goes by quarters and Goldendale High School goes by Semesters. I think his GPA was 3.75. Great Job Jacob!! Benjamin and Samuel just get pass or fail grades and they are both doing well in school also.

Samuel is actually home sick today. This is his first sick day all year long. We have been blessed with healthy children so far this year. I better knock on some wood.

I have decided to get back into the work force, kind of. There was a job opening for a secretary at the High School. I was going to apply but then a friend suggested that I get on the Substitute Secretary list for the school district. So I ended up doing both. I am on the substitute secretary list. However, there are 8 other people who are substitute secretaries. So I am on the bottom of the list. I have yet to be called to work. There are only 6 available secretary positions to sub for. I also applied for the High School secretary position but have yet to hear from that. I assume that they hired someone else. No one really looks at me because it's been 16 years since I have really worked as a secretary. But I am putting it into the Lord's hands though. If he wants me to work then I will work. There is a time and purpose to everything. I just have to have faith.

Basketball is officially done now. Britni played her last game on Monday. She then got her back and neck adjusted yesterday. She feels much better now. She has lost quite a bit of weight with Basketball. I am hoping now she may put on some weight now. I wish that was my problem. I am just trying to lose the weight that I have gained.

I best get going for today. Enjoy your Thursday. :)

Don't Know What You Got, Till It's Gone!!

Yep great music lyrics and so true to what my past week has been. We lost our power last Thursday for 2 hours. I thought that wasn't so bad. I was just feeling the chill of the air when the power came back on that day. I figured I was doing pretty good since my brother in Seattle area was out of power for several days. So then Saturday came along and the power goes out again. (again during laundry) This time it's out for 5 hours. The kids went outside and played, we had sandwiches for lunch, then we played card games/board games. Just as I was laying down to take a nap from all the excitement of the board games, the power comes back on.

Then we get a phone call that night from our neighbor. We can't hear him on our phone. He calls Lynn's cell phone to explain that our phones don't work. So something must have happened when the power came back on because our phone was working before the power came back on.

Because it was Saturday, they would not fix our phones. So we waited until Monday. I called Monday to say our phone didn't work. I got a "ticket" number. They say it should be fixed by Tuesday morning.

To make a really long story short. We just got our phone and internet back 10 minutes ago. I guess this happened to a lot of people in the area. I feel kind of back for the poor phone people and PUD people who are working so hard to get phones and power back to so many people. BTW, we did have our internet for a few days but it also went out Yesterday. What is sad is that I was getting withdrawals from not having the internet after 1 day!!! I guess I best do something about that. However, I am so happy to be back among the internet living!!! :)

Snow Daze!!

This is day 3 of no school for the kids because of the snow/ice. Wednesday it snowed a lot. I will include a picture. We got between 12-14 inches. Then it started the freezing rain. When you live in the Columbia Gorge, you get freezing rain and wind. At least with the freezing rain there is minimal wind!! It's just very slick outside. Here is a picture of our pour trees. They are so weighed down with the ice. We have had a few limbs break off. Lynn's comment "That's one way to trim the trees." It scared out dog half to death. She barked at that limb for quite awhile, thinking the THE SKY IS FALLING!! The kids have fun trying to walk on top of the snow because of all the ice. Samuel is the only one light enough to actually do it. What is interesting is our fat dog is able to do it too. I guess she isn't that fat after all if she can walk on top of the snow. :)

At least we have power. A couple days ago we had 2 hours of no power. It was just starting to get cold in the house when the power came on. I hear my brother in Seattle area has no power and hasn't had it all day yesterday and into today too. He is a lucky man though, he has a generator and heater. We are very blessed indeed to have power.

Now to get the kids busy with their chores! Have a safe and warm day.

Finally Snow!!

Yup that's right. It is snowing right now. This very minute as I am typing. I am actually glad for the snow. I was getting really worried about the fact that we have had very little moisture this year. The down part of it is, I'm suppose to go walking with my girlfriends this afternoon. I hope they don't cancel on me. As long as it's not icy we should be fine. Walking in the snow will be fun.

I also apologize for not writing last week at all. I am trying a new cleaning schedule. So every morning I am to be cleaning. In fact, I should be in my bathroom cleaning right now. I decided to take a few minutes to write before I began. The house is much cleaner. At least I am working on that. I keep rearranging things though. The kids are going nuts. Everyday Benjamin will walk in first and say where did the ___________ go? Then he searches until he finds it. Or he says "so you moved that over there??" I think that I am becoming more organized and they think I have OCD. In fact, I heard Britni ask her Dad if I had OCD!!! hehe!! Little do they know that this is actually helping me make it through the January Blahs!! I haven't had any depression this month. I go walking outside with my friends, twice a week. I have been working on a "couch to 5K" plan. I am really liking it. Even the pain!! And I am staying busy!! That is a big help right there.

We had a different type of "goal" lesson last night for FHE. Lynn gave the lesson and asked each of us to write down our hopes and dreams. I have quite a few. Lynn told everyone that he is sure that "tile" will be on my list!! hehe!! It was but put in a general basis of renovations to the house. Benjamin's was the saddest I think. I don't know if he was embarrassed to write anything down or if he just couldn't think of anything. I will have to take him on a Mommy/Son date and find out for sure. All he wrote down was to have better handwriting. Which is a great hope and dream and an achievable goal. The other kids talked of good grades or straight A's. Going on missions or going to the temple. Fulfilling Priesthood duties, etc.

I had down first thing to have our kids go on Missions and marry in the Temple. then I had that I want to be a Temple Worker. Lynn was surprised by that. I don't know why. I thought he knew that one. Travel with my husband and friends, go on a mission with my husband, renovate the house, and have eternal life with my family.

Lynn's was kind of sad also. His main goal is To get out of debt!! Then to donate to lots of causes like humanitarian aid and pef and etc. To have his calling and election made sure and live eternally with his family. That was it. Nothing for the right now. Nothing temporal. Maybe I should take a hint and not care about the house renovations. But I really want carpet that hasn't been spit up on!! Is that too much to ask for?

Anyway the one thing that all the boys did not put down was "BE AN EAGLE SCOUT" Daniel is close. He's a Star Scout right now. Our problem is that we don't have the resources and leaders to get the kids through the scouting program.

So last night was very enlightening to say the least. AND it is snowing even harder now. Best check my e-mails and then get to cleaning that bathroom. Enjoy your day.

This is Winter???

Yep, I can hardly believe my eyes when it's sunny out and no snow or wind and it's January. It makes me really scared for what is ahead. If we don't get more snow in the mountains we will be in drought big time. Not to mention we will all be burned out of Goldendale with the Forest Fires!!

However, on the brighter side, I am loving being able to go out walking/jogging in the mornings. Yep, one of my goals this year is to go from the Couch to a 5K. So I am doing it. Today was day 2 and I am feeling it. Mainly because I am also doing 10-20 minutes of Crossfit exercises. I am determined to get in shape and hopefully lose some weight along the way.

I am making Britni's birthday cheesecake right now. I'm a little worried though, it doesn't look right. It's the best cheesecake recipe ever!! I have made it several times yet it still doesn't look quite right. I hope it tastes good.

I am also loving Pinterest. It's an online bulletin board where you can get craft ideas, recipes, quotes, DIY projects and etc. I have so many projects I want to do right now. However, I should probably finish the ones that I started first before I begin some more.

Well, All the family is doing well. The kids have started Basketball again. They are so much like their Daddy!! Have a super winter day. :)