My Point of View

This Post will be Uchtdorf style—with aviation thrown in now and again!

Graham was fitted handsomely during his JROTC class in his camo's. Once a week they have dress inspections. There can't be a stray cord, hair on the ear, or a smile on your face!

We never would have seen ourselves as a Friday night football family. However, it was how we spent our Friday nights from August to November. I don't know if it was because I told Matt he needed a hobby of sorts, but he signed on to be the stats guy for the Wasatch High School Football team. He managed to finagle his way to the field every weekend, including away games. A dream of his fulfilled. (He's the one in the white cap in front of the red cap.)

The only thing he could have done without was that whenever a coach cussed, they would comment, "Oh no, we've got a Bishop on the field." Shouldn't they care more about cursing in front of the boys???

I came prepared to the first game with homemade enchiladas for Graham in a glass container. I told him I had it in my purse whenever he was ready. He looked at me like the crazy mom (that I was!) However, come half-time, he got hungry enough that he asked for it. Who would choose greasy pizza over greasy enchiladas anyway?

The theme for the night was Americana, hence the camo. Since he was in uniform, this meant that he could go on the filed with the other cadets and do push-ups every time the Wasps scored.

From the top of the stadium, Callie captured the evening sky. How tired were we of the constant smokey skies this summer?! But I love the aerial shot she got of the Wasatch Aquatics Center. I didn't think much of it when it was built four years ago. Sometimes I am there five days out of the week!

Callie had a great time running around with Mercy and Tyson. My take on Americana.

I had to smile as I walked to our seats. Tyson was butted right up to the band so that he could sit by Graham. I thought it was sweet. The two of them have been friends since they were in the womb! This also worked out well for me because I always had a reserved seat! He never sat in it for long.

Graham is one of those fellas' doing push-ups in the endzone.

In the weeks following, I was able to make my way onto the field as well. I volunteered to load the pit onto the field for the Marching Band's halftime show. Honestly, when I agreed to help, I didn't even know what the pit was. I got a front-row seat to the show! After going through the many boxes in the basement, I now have quite the stash of Wasatch gear to wear.

The crowd went crazy for the band, which I thought was so great. They have been working on their routine since May. The summer included two week-long camps. Sometimes working 12- hour days.

Callie, Mercy, and Tyson spent their time at the games trying to get the Wasp's attention. A little Wasp crush, if you will. They could not believe it when they saw me and Matt posing with him ON THE FIELD. I found his muscles to be a bit squishy. They even created a Waspfan Instagram page. I am in the first post!

The band also practiced how to march for parades. During the Swiss Days Parade, Graham was easy to spot in his snazzy glasses. As Graham and I walked through the booths, he found a treasure in these vintage plane drawings. It now hangs proudly above his desk.

BYU vs UTAH

More FOOTBALL. Neither Graham nor I could believe it when Matt said he didn't have the heart to watch the BYU/Utah game. Too many heartbreaks over the years—combined with early morning meetings the next day. Would you believe that I stayed up with the little fella to watch? I think I enjoyed watching Graham more than the game! He caught some air when they won.

Ironically, the last game that I watched between the two rivals was at Lavell Edwards Stadium when they beat Utah. Remember, "By George, a WIN!"

Well, maybe I should have watched all of the games the last dozen years because the Cougs pulled out another win!

I stayed till the bitter end—till Cosmo was body surfed across the field.

Saturday Band Competitions

These were as foreign to us as "the pit."

We could see Graham in his groovy aviators. We drove usually an hour each way every Saturday to the different competitions at various high schools.

Wasatch pulled out a FIRST place at their FIRST Competition!

We celebrated at Popeye's Chicken afterward. You might wonder why we chose to sit out there in the wind. Well, it is because I bought a discount card from the Football team fundraiser. I never remember to use the discounts, but on the front of the card is a football schedule. I said, "I just bought a $25 football schedule." BUT we did use it that one time at Popeye's.

We were still on a high afterward so we stopped at Grandma's on our way home. She is always a fun one to share good news with. Oh, and Callie got to play with her tinker toys;)

Camos aren't the only uniform Graham has. I always think he looks so handsome on dress uniform days.

When Grayson wanted a detailed update each week, I would assure him that our weeks all looked the same! Dad Bishops on Sundays and a couple of nights a week, I go to my water classes during the week, do school, donate plasma, Temple on Thursday, Callie runs XC, Friday night we go to the football games, and Saturday to competitions. Rinse and repeat.

Here Graham and Callie (and Poe!) lounge on a Sunday afternoon. Recharging before another week!

Homecoming!

If Graham wasn't on the band float, he would have been on the JROTC float. I had a 50/50 chance of being on the right side of the road to see him. I found my dear friend, Jaynee and her hubs to stand by (glad that I noticed my zipper was down just before;) I was on the right side! So was Callie when he passed by the middle school.

Matt and I joined the Band Boosters Club. We don't have a ton of time to donate, but we like to help where we can. Matt picked up lots of Frito chips, cookies, and crackers for the team, and Callie helped me put together 60 snack bags to hand out.

It was rare for Graham to have a free Friday night (only when the team was away). He was excited to invite some friends over. What is fun is that they are also Callie's friends. I took them to Smith's to buy snacks. I forgot that the back seats in the van were down. Just as well. They had a great time back there and the radio was playing some sweet tunes. (Tyson with his Pizza face again).

One Friday night, I also took advantage of the band not playing at the game. My bestie, ChyAyn, was in town so she came over for a couple of hours to catch up (though we have so much to talk about that it literally felt like five minutes.) However, Callie HAD gone to the game, but after a bit decided she wanted to come home. My wrist was buzzing with call after call for me to come to get her. Gah.

Callie petered out in her excitement with getting up bright and early each Saturday morning to go to another competition. It was just me and Matt at the AF competition. Afterward, Matt wanted to take me to breakfast at Jim's. I was of course having a hard time deciding what to order. He said, "Just get what you feel like!" The thing is, it's hard to choose something when you don't want any of it and you know it isn't going to taste good:/

Saber Team

The CUTEST was when Graham was part of the Saber Team arch for the HoCo royalty. He was easy to find during the halftime band performance because he was still in uniform. He sure had some little gals fluttering around him.

You don't realize the after-school practices that go into every organization. It makes me appreciate them all a little more, the dancers, the cheerleaders, the color guard…

I looked back during the game to see the Food Nanny gang sitting behind me a few rows up (Sr. Food Nanny—who I have talked to many times—and all the daughters—even the niece who is ready to leave on a mission. See, from SM I know all of them!) I decided to go and say hello. As I was doing so, I saw Lizzie (FN Jr.) Eeek! It was good to see her again. She is always so sweet and gave me the biggest hug. I plopped down and we chatted for quite a while. My wrist buzzed literally 13 times with missed calls. Graham needed a ride home RIGHT THEN. Good golly, lemme chat!

That's me in the middle of the crowd with a big DUBBLEYA on my shirt!

JROTC has a model plane club that I thought for sure Graham would enjoy. But he says that their planes are a little sloppy. He prefers to work on his own.

Rain or Shine!

I couldn't believe the down poor when we showed up in Davis County. Mainly because the bands were still playing! We were chilled to the bone as we huddled under blankets. I couldn't imagine how the band felt, especially the color guard gals who were basically wearing swimsuits with a sheer sarong. The announcer cracked us up. He said over the loudspeaker, "Everyone, point your hand straight forward." We did. "That is 12 o'clock. Now point your finger at 2 o'clock." We did. "That is where you can buy hot chocolate."

We did!

Then I spilled it not once, not twice, but THREE ties in the car on the way home.

I had messaged the booster president to see if I could help with lunch. She said she thought they had it under control but I was free to stop by the tent after the performance to see if they needed help. As we pulled up and saw everyone trying to dish up tacos under a drizzly Easy-Up, we motioned for Graham to hop in the car and we got outta there!

If we are on school grounds, I am not allowed to take photos of Graham (his policy). I have to be quick to catch a snapshot of him. "Great action pose!"

Bands of America

The last competition of the season was Bands of America in St. George at Dixie State University, November 6th. The day before, Matt told me that the Marriot had upgraded us to a two-bedroom suite. That is a lot of room for just the three of us! Graham was required to stay with the team. I sent a text to Linds and Ash to see if Vi and P were up for a road trip. They were IN. We met at the Geert's the next day for an out-of-the-blue road trip. Though they hadn't gotten together for a spell, the girls were immediately in deep conversation. Well, I don't know about DEEP ;) We oohed and ahhed at the fabulous things Lindsey and Jon have done with her place recently and then headed south!

Ice Cream and squeaky cheese in Beaver for all! Matt asked, "Why is it called squeaky cheese?" I told him to take a bite. "Ohhhh."

The girls were fond of the kitty cat walking around.

That evening while the girls had pizza and pop under the twinkle lights at the pool, Matt and I went out for tacos. Mallerie had called us on our way down to tell us the exciting news of Gavin's job offer in Kauai. I asked how they had celebrated. She said, "We got tacos!" So, that evening, I sent her my own taco pic, "To celebrate Gav!'

We were not prepared for the freezing temperatures the next morning. Literally in the '30s. I couldn't even get a shot of the band because it was too early and the field was all shadows. We needed sunshine!

Vi had dressed for a beautiful St. George type of day. Callie loaned her the blanket jacket she got for her birthday. Matt helped carpool the team back to the hotel after their performance. I thought it was one of the best shows they have put on! We figured we may as well go back to the hotel as well. I took pics of the girl's stamps in case they washed off in the pool.

We needed to warm up! We got cocoa in the lobby and the girls hit the hot tub while I worked on homework. Later that afternoon, Matt carpooled band members back to the stadium so we went back to watch as well. For how chilly it had been in the morning, the afternoon was just as hot! I had to walk to the car to shimmy out of my black leggings. We cooled down with Dippin' Dots in the shade. I was glad to see the cards being put to use that I stuffed in C's bag, last minute. By the afternoon, the stands were packed. That was when the 6A schools performed. Bands had come from New Mexico, Nevada, and as far away as Ohio. It was BANDS OF AMERICA. It was a treat to finally see American Fork perform. As expected, they took first place.

The breakfast at the hotel had been decent, but we all grabbed some of the packaged items to nibble on at the competition. Then we all grabbed stuff at the concession stand throughout the day. That evening, we were in dire need of a real meal. The criteria? NOTHING PACKAGED. Costa Vida to the rescue!

These girls. ALWAYS in deep convo. It was so fun having them on the trip with us! There were multiple times that I wondered what C would be doing if it was just the three of us. And Graham thought it neat that some cousins came to watch. Such sweeties <3.

Graham gave his instrument a bath (literally, he put it in the bathtub). He has worked so hard! Did we know how involved all of this would be? NOPE. It has been a great experience. I hope Graham is proud of how hard he was worked to develop his talent because we sure are!

I forget that he is also in Concert Band at WHS. Marching Band is just his side gig. For their fall performance he was asked to wear a dark suit. He came upstairs in his light gray suit. I told him to try on Grayson's black suit. Fit like a glove—except I kept doing a doubletake all evening thinking that it was Grayson. They sounded amazing playing songs such as "A Million Dreams." They really put on a show! SUCH a difference between middle-school and HS band. We stayed after to hear the jazz band. The sax solos were tight.

What was fun was watching the students have the time of their lives while doing what they love.

The season officially ended with a banquet (more like a chili cook-off). There were so many good soups to try. In the auditorium, the band performed their show one more time for us. It is titled, "The Speed of Life."

When I first saw the color guards' red uniforms, I thought it was an odd choice when the rest of the band was in black and gold. However, Toby's hair tied it all together.

I realized how endeared I had become to their show after seeing it so many times. It was sad to watch it for the last time.

Graham was awarded the most punctual award! My child.

We were also invited to the football banquet because Matt was the stats guy. Boy, compared to the band banquet, the football one was a real bow-wow. For starters, there wasn't any food in sight! I was glad I didn't waltz in with a Caesar salad. As we found seats towards the back, I heard the coach say, "I want to recognize EVERYONE, so this is going to take some time." Oh boy. Callie had come with me and Matt. I texted her, "I don't want to stay." She concurred. We relayed the message to Matt and he got us out of there. He found out later that it went on for over TWO HOURS and there never was anything edible handed out. Whatevs. We hit the Dairy Keen on our way home.

While shopping at Lee's for our Thanksgiving turkey, Matt glanced at the stack of Wasatch Waves. He said, "That is Graham!" Sure enough, there he was on the front page. The JROTC had gone to the Sr. Center for a flag folding ceremony on Veteran's Day. The paper only shows the back of Graham.

Good eye, Papa!