OWEN

27 April 2011 ~ this one is now 5 years old

Owen Ryan Marshall
This little guy puts a smile on my face.
He is funny! I really LOVE him!

We used to call it bumble bee soccer.

Here we have the next soccer playing generation.

Please note the coach near the goalie box.

Actually this coach was a subsitute for the REAL coach who was off to get Annie ready to go on stage.

Mom

Elizabeth Marshall Johanson

From Elizabeth ~

2006 ~ Gigi with Baby Megan

Yesterday morning my maternal grandmother returned home to her Heavenly Father.

I remember as a kid thinking that I had the most fun grandma. She had a great sense of humor. She was witty and sharp as a tack. She was very also very generous. I can think of numerous ways she reached out to me over the years. She was always looking for ways to help out those she loved.

2005: Gigi with Adam and me on our wedding day

Grandma was tough as nails, and over the past several years her health had deteriorated and left her pretty miserable. It wasn’t always easy to be around her during those last years of her life, and when I was around her, even though I tried to be nice, I wasn’t always as nice as I should have been.

Grandma Bishop had been living with my mom in Las Vegas for many years now. I was in Vegas just days before she died; staying at my sister’s house. Saturday morning my mom called my sister because she needed help with Grandma. I was the one who answered the phone, and I hopped in the car and hurried over to my mom’s. Grandma had gotten out of bed to use the bathroom, and was unable to make it back to bed. My mom wasn’t strong enough to help her to her bed alone, so she needed me to help get her into bed.

It wasn’t an easy thing to get grandma from the bathroom into her bed. I basically carried her into bed on my own, and my back was aching for days afterwards. I felt so bad for her though, and felt more love and sympathy for her then I had felt in years.

Three days later, when my mom called to tell me that she had passed away, I was so grateful that I had the opportunity to serve her right before she had died, and that I had the opportunity to feel in my heart the love that I had always had for her.

I have many great memories of Grandma Bishop. She was the only grandparent I ever knew. There was no question that it was time for her to go and that she was ready to move on. I am so happy for her that she has returned home to all those who have gone before her. I am so glad that pain is finally gone. We love you, Long Legs BJ. ‘Till we meet again.

2004 ~Gigi and me

Sarah Marshall Vidal

From Sarah ~

Beverly June Bishop

07 August 1925 - 18 April 2011

I've only known one grandparent in my life. Grandma Bishop. My mom texted me at 6 a.m. last Monday and told me to call her. I knew why she was calling. Grandma had died. The next hours and days were very emotionally draining as we began making final preparations for Gigi. Grandma was old. It was her time to go. But, that doesn't make it an easier to say goodbye to someone you've known your whole life.
Grandma has three daughters and 15 grandchildren. They were all able to drop everything and attend the funeral for Grandma. It was a great day. Everything was perfect.

Grandma's ten grandsons.Pallbearers.
The Kelley Family
The Marshall Family
The Romberg Family

Grandma has lived down the street from me at my mom's house for the last 7 years. It will be different without her. My children will miss her too.

Because of Jesus Christ, and Heavenly Father's great plan of happiness, we know that death is not the end. Because Christ was resurrected, we too will be resurrected. We will be reunited with our loved ones when we are finished with this earthly life. Grandma Bishop has reunited with loved ones who have preceded her in death. How special that reunion must be going.
'Till we meet again Gigi. We love you.

Joshua Ray Kelley

From Josh ~

Long Legs BJ

I received word on Monday morning that my grandmother on my mom’s side had passed away. Of my extended family members that have passed on, Grandma Bishop has been the one I’ve been closest to. Both of my grandfathers died when I was still fairly young, so the bond didn’t have as much time to develop. In fact, the women have long outlived their husbands on both sides of my family (which seems to be a troubling pattern). She had lived a full life, and I trust that it was her time to take this next step in her eternal journey.

I’ve had a few days to reflect on the influence that my grandma has had on my life. The first thing that comes to mind is the importance of family. My memories of going to visit Grandma Bishop usually meant that we were going to get together with all of my aunts, uncles and cousins. Trips to Grandma Bishop’s meant games of football in the yard, digging up potato bugs, the giant pig next door (was his name George?), picking grapes from the vine, checking out the outdoor fish tank, intense board game battles, tons of delicious food and lots of laughs. Most importantly it meant that everyone was going to be there. When you start adding up all the aunts and uncles, the 15 grandchildren and the random friends and neighbors that might stop by, it was never a small group. And with a few exceptions it was always like that. Everyone would make the trip to Grandma’s. The bond that was developed with my extended family during those times became very strong, and we still maintain contact regardless of how far we have moved away from one another. I think that The Bishop Bunch has kept family close because of Grandma Bishop’s influence. After all, she did live in the house right behind Great Grandma Rich for all those years. You can’t keep family much closer than that.

Another thing that came to mind was how cool Grandma Bishop was. One of the things I like to think about with older people is whether or not I would have hung out with them in school. Grandma Bishop was one of the old people who would have made the cut. I don’t know what exactly that means, but I think it means that I would have liked her even if we weren’t family. On the occasions that we would have friends and family together she was always talking my friends’ ears off. We would tell them that she used to be an exotic dancer. She not only went along with it, but said that her stage name was “Long Legs BJ”. She seemed to fit right in. She didn’t let technology slow her down. I was out of the country when the whole internet thing happened. When it came to email and instant messaging, she was way ahead of me. She not only had a Facebook account, but she constantly used it. She would keep us up to date on how she was feeling, she would send out birthday wishes and she would let you know what she thought of the activities you posted. She wasn’t a person of rich means and she always “wished she could give more”, but for me she epitomized the phrase, “It’s the thought that counts”. She was someone I liked being around.

The thing I will remember most about Grandma Bishop is her laugh. People have often said that I have a wonderful sense of humor (Nobody has actually said that to me out loud, but I’m sure they are thinking it). I think my unique sense of humor has many influences (many of which would probably not like to be named), but I see a lot of my sense of humor being similar to Grandma Bishop’s. We both could be a bit irreverent at times, we both could get loud at exactly the wrong moment, we both could be the butt of a joke for the sake of the laugh and we both could usually find the humor in serious situations. My missionary companions always chuckled about me getting mail from Long Legs BJ, and then finding out that it was from my grandma. And she always kept me up to date on what was happening with the O.J. trial.
As I look back on all my experiences with Grandma Bishop the one that keeps coming to the front of my mind is a time when she was over at my parents’ house. I don’t remember what the occasion was, but I remember us sitting on the couch and watching the movie “The Naked Gun” together. That is my all-time favorite movie. Some people might not think that it is the best movie to sit and watch with your grandmother, but I’m not some people and my grandma isn’t your average grandmother. We sat there laughing louder and louder as the jokes got stupider and stupider. I recall one particular scene that made her laugh so hard that she started crying. And that is how I will remember my grandma; laughing together at something mildly inappropriate.

I regret that she never got to meet Sawyer, but my faith in the afterlife gives me the hope that they will one day get to laugh together. I’m not sure how everything goes down after death, but I can picture Grandma giving Grandpa a piece of her mind for leaving this life so many years before her. Then I see them grabbing their fishing gear, with the sound of grandma’s laughter tailing off as they head to the lake.

I believe...

"From General Conference ~ 3 April 2011 ~

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said: "...use your hands, to blog and text message the gospel to all the world!" "...with the blessings of modern technology, we can express gratitude and joy about God’s great plan for His children in a way that can be heard not only around our workplace but around the world. Sometimes a single phrase of testimony can set events in motion that affect someone’s life for eternity.

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