Cathy Pope precious mother and grandmother

GARDEN CITY, Utah – Catherine Irene Lewis Pope, 57, returned to her Heavenly Father on Tuesday, October 5, 2010.

Cathy was born April 21, 1953 in Montpelier, Idaho to Calvert and Agnes Lewis. She grew up in the Bear Lake Valley and was the youngest of six children. At the age of 16 her mother passed away leaving Cathy as the only child at home. She assumed responsibility for the household and developed self-reliance and determination. In 1971 Cathy married her eternal companion Howard Max Pope and they were sealed in the Logan Utah Temple.

Cathy was mother to five children for whom she devoted her life. Her children learned the importance of provident living through her example of finding a good bargain and stretching a dollar. She was never idle and thoughtfully performed many acts of service without thought of recognition.

By fostering an atmosphere of love, she created a home that nurtured deep family unity. Using her home as her canvas, Cathy’s unending creativity made her a true homemaker in every sense of the word. She enjoyed working with her hands through gardening, carpentry, cooking, sewing and quilting. This desire to develop and share of your talents is instilled in her children.

Cathy served valiantly in many church callings throughout her life. Her deep personal testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ resonated among all who knew her. She leaves behind a rich legacy of faith and family to her children and grandchildren.

Cathy is survived by her husband Howard, of Garden City, Utah; her children Kerrie Taylor (Toby) of Lehi, Utah; Courtney Guymon (Chris) of Smithfield, Utah; Candice Eborn (Stephen) of Pueblo, Colorado; Cami McCabe (Patrick) of Queen Creek, Arizona; Nicholas Pope of Provo, Utah; and 12 beautiful grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents and one elder brother.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 9, 2010, at 11:00 a.m. at Garden City Chapel, 65 South Bear Lake Blvd. with Bishop Howard M. Pope conducting. Friends may call prior to the service from 9:30 to 10:50 a.m. A viewing will be held on Friday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Matthew’s Mortuary, 702 Clay Street in Montpelier, Idaho. Interment will be in the Garden City Cemetery.

Disneyland Day 1

Well the kids have been dying to get to Disneyland. We were going to go in the fall and then Chris' brother couldn't get leave, and everyone was too broke before Christmas so we decided to wait for spring. Chris' brother is going to be deployed to Iraq so we thought we would give one last hurrah before he's gone for a year and a half. I was so glad that we went. The kids absoloutely loved their Uncle Gabe and were so happy to be able to go to Disneyland with him and their Grandma and Grandpa Guymon. We decided to fly this time since Cole and Cate have never been on an airplane. As much as Chris and I travel with his job, that's pretty pathetic. They absoloutely loved it. Cole was just dying as he looked out the window. Luckily it was a small commuter plane, because as we took off he was bouncing up and down in the seat yelling "Mom, Mom, look we're flying!" Cate and Cai looked out the window and were excited but Cole could not contain his delight when we were finally airborne.

We flew into Long Beach, which is a tiny little airport so it was great for the kids and their Grandpa had come ahead of us and was ready with a gynormous "Mormon Van" for the trip. We had to make a ceremonial stop at Tommy's for lunch. Where almost everything on the menu is slathered in Chili.

Then Grandpa had also gotten everyone a disney character T-shirt. So after we finished lunch he had them spread over the back of each of our seats. Grandma and Grandpa Guymon tried so hard to make it as fun as possible they really went above and beyond.

After lunch we headed straight for the park. We got 6 day passes for the price of 4, so we were glad to be able to take things at a slower pace and still get to see the whole park. We had to stop for pics at the Walt Disney Statue, and then headed over to Fantasyland.

I felt really bad that on the first day Cai got hurt. We were going on the storybook land boat ride and boat operator stepped on Cai's finger as she was walking along the side of the boat to get to the front. She must have stepped on it with the corner of a hard-soled shoe or something because she took a huge chunk of skin of the side of his finger. We didn't realize how bad it was until I looked at it after the ride. Needless to say he went straight to the first-aid station. They were so great and knew just what to do to help him feel better. They loaded him up with bandaids, tylenol, ice and about 6 buttons a person for all of us. They even gave him two walk-on passes to the Toy Story 3D ride, for six people each time. So we literally walked onto it 3 times without having to wait at all. We kept joking that soemone else needed to get hurt the rest of the trip so that we could get more free stuff (jokingly of course)!

Then we headed over to Autopia. The kids were ecstatic, that they got a drivers license, and that they got to "drive" the car. Cate was pretty crazy behind the wheel but the boys drove like pros. I guess all those hours of Mario Kart finally paid off!

We stayed to watch the fireworks that night and froze our butts off. They kept delaying them waiting for the wind to slow down, which it never did. So we froze to death for an hour and a half for nothing. But other than that we had a pretty great day. It was fun to see Cate and Cole really get into things more than the last time we came. Cate was only 1 and Cole was 3. But srprisingly they actually remembered quite a bit from the last trip.

Cai's baptism

Well the big day finally arrived. I am so proud of Cai, I have always admired his strong desire to do what is right. Although I had to laugh a bit, when I told him about his interview with the bishop! It went like this:

Mom: "Cai are you ready for your interview with the bishop?"

Cai (with a look of terror): "What does interview mean?"
Mom: "the bishop will just ask you questions about baptism and your testimony about the church. He'll ask you if you're keeping the commandments, and maybe if you tease you little sister."

Cai: gets a devious look on his face after I mention teasing his sister and says "I'm gonna say no!"

We had to have a little discussion about telling the truth always even if it's scary, but I about laughed my head off! The look on his face was sooo funny.

He shared his baptism day with two other kids from the ward Kiley Jensen, and Nicole Buttars. It was really cool that they are the first group to be baptised since the formation of the new Smithfield South Stake. Each stake has a book where they record the baptisms that take place and his group will be the first ones in the book! That will be something fun for him to remember. Since we had to share the program, our family didn't do too much in the program, but all the kids getting baptised and their siblings got up and sang "When I Am Baptized." I had made up a poster and we had done some practices, and they all did so great, it was really cute.

I totally wasn't prepared for how much I would be hit by the spirit. I felt like I was about to burst into tears during the opening song. There is something so amazing about watching your kids make those covenants, and seeing the future that lies ahead of them. In 4 short years he will be recieving the priesthood, and attending Young Men's! It all goes by way too fast. It was also just awesome to see Chris as he took Cai into the font all dressed in white. It always makes me so proud to see my husband perform priesthood ordinances. It is amazing to remember the power that he holds, and how much it means to him and me that he is worthy to hold such tremendous power. The influence of the spirit was so strong that day, I hope that Cai never forgets what an amazing experience it was.

Cai's grandparents both chipped in and got him a beautiful set of scriptures, Cai is so excited to have his very own, and has even sat down to read them a few times without any suggestion from me. He was so excited the first day of Primary after he got them. He was so proud that he had looked up the longest scripture in class and read it all by himself!

The bishop gave him a pure white handkerchief during the baptisimal program that was part of a magic trick of course. Our bishop is amazing and a magician! He taught them all about repentance by making a red hanky dissapear and replacing it with a pure white one for each of the kids. The primary president brought over a darling picture Mat with two ovals cut out for a poem and a picture of Cai. Then in sacrament meeting they presented Cai with a hardcover Book of Mormon with a message from the bishopric inside. We have such an amazing ward they really made his baptism special and went the extra mile to make it memorable.

After Cai's baptism we had a brunch at the house, where we had his favorite pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes and cinnamon rolls. His Uncle Gabe bought him a CTR ring and his grandma and grandpa Callister got him a tie tack of the angel Moroni.

Mother's Day

Well I took the advice of my mother this year. She said that on Mother's day instead of getting depressed about all those stories of perfect Mothers who do this that and the other, or feeling that you aren't being truly appreciated, she said that every Mother's Day she would just try to be the absoloute best Mother she could possibly be. Which I thought I would try this year. Having a positive attitude made such a big difference. I stopped thinking about myself and instead focused on what I could do for others.

After church Chris surprised me with a gift from Him and the kids, and I have to say I was thrilled. We had both kinda agreed that finishing the backyard would be father's/mother's day for both of us. I have been wanting a set of Jane Austen Novels for ages, and had dropped some hints about a year ago, but hadn't mentioned it since. He found the most beautiful set of classic novels I have ever seen. There's 3 of the Jane Austen classics, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Litte Women, Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden, and Jane Eyre. They each have a ribbon book marker like scriptures do, and I have already read 3 of them since.
How did I ever snag such a great catch. Every woman probably feels the same, but I totally hit the jackpot! What an awesome hubby and father!

Cai's 8th Birthday!

Wow when your kid turns 8 it makes an impression. Cai seemed to age 3 years overnight. 8 is such a milestone, there's Baptism, Cub Scouts, Senior Primary (I guess that happened in Jan.) I was just freaking out over the latest batch of Beehive girls to come into Young Womens. I remembered when they were the older girls in Junior Primary when I was Chorister, because that really wasn't long ago like 5-6 years. Well in another 5-6 years Cai will be fourteen! A Mom never gets over how fast time goes by. At this rate Cai will be in Young Men's before I know it!
You already heard me rave about what a great kid he was on my Valentine's post so now I will just show you how darling and mature looking he is in his pics for his baptism announcements! Thanks to my sister/photographer Kerrie, for the awesome pictures.

He was such a great little model. I have gotten so used to coaxing, prodding, and trying to get the kids to sit still that I didn't realize how cooperative Cai had gotten recently. He may have a future in modeling he got pretty into it, coming up with poses and taking it all so seriously, What a cute kid! Always trying so hard to do the right thing.

Now when exactly was May? I think I missed it.

Oh yeah I was covered in dirt and PVC glue! I got a tad obssesed with finishing the yard and ignored everything and everyone for a few weeks. I really need to learn to multi-task. That's supposed to come with the female brain right? Nope, I think I got skipped on that gene. I wanted to finish it a few weeks before disneyland so that we wouldn't be leaving freshly layed sod to fry while we were out of town. The feeling of rolling out sod onto bare dirt is indescribable maybe not doing it, but seeing it go down like lovely green carpet! Amazing! And watching the sprinklers pop up and water it! Amazing! I wish I had a before pic, but I don't so here's the after!

A Soggy Easter

Well the beautiful weather we'd been having couldn't last through the holiday. About 3 days before Easter we ended up getting snow every night. We still had a really great Easter anyways. Chris' parents and brother Gabe came up to stay for the holiday. They came on Saturday and we went out to the Smokin Blues BBQ place in Providence. They had awesome BBQ with the exception of the ribs. they had good flavor, but were very tough. They even had fried pickles which were surprising but delicious. Their smoked turkey was unbelievable.

We hit the hot tub that night and watched "Where the Wild things Are." Which was pretty good, but could have been better in the plot arena. The monsters behavior was just very strange, and the storyline seemed to flail around for a purpose. The kids had fun though. They love hangin out with their Uncle Gabe. Cole had a tummy ache, and we were afraid he was coming down with something, but it resolved itself by morning.

Easter morning the kids were not allowed out of their rooms until 7:00 Gabe slept down in Cole's room with the boys and Cai kept pestering him to know when it was 7:00. At 7:03 they came to wake us up. After getting a sneak peak at Christmas, they all had to stay in the kitchen until I got the camera set up for the big reveal. They were very excited about the toys, not so much about their new church shoes. We went without the Easter Sunday clothes this year, since the boys have way too many dress shirts and pants already. Cate has too many dresses, but I did splurge a couple months ago at Gymboree and bought her one. Yes I am weak. Every year we say we're taking it easy, and then we don't and this year is no exception. Cai wanted a Wii dance game so we got the Dance Dance Revolution 2 with the floor mat. He was a little unsure about himself at first, but he seriously played it all day. He improved so dramatically it was amazing. Kids catch on so fast. All of us tried it, and I can tell it will be our families new favorite activity.

Cole is obsessed with the Lego Power Miners, so he got a big drill thing with a big monster. We also got him a Lego project container. He has about 20 lego things he's built on his dresser so they don't get ruined, so at least this way he'll have someplace to keep them.

Cate got a Zhu Zhu pet house and baby Zhu Zhu and a gift card for build-a-bear. She also played with her "pets" all day.

Then Grandma, Grandpa and Gabe gave the kids the Easter gifts they had brought. They got the boys a remote control truck and a hummer, and Cate got a new Barbie scooter. They absoloutely loved their gifts. They don't realize how lucky they are to be so blessed. After seeing the poverty of the children in Mexico, it was a little harder to enjoy all of our abundance knowing that others have so little. The little village where our B&B was had houses back along the river where the families didn't have running water and barely had walls. It really makes me feel ashamed, to look around at our excesses. I think I'm going to make a separate post about one of the families and see what we can do for them.

We had Easter dinner here. I made a smoked ham with dutch oven potatoes, homemade rolls, and asparagus, with a strawberry shortcake for dessert. It was the first time we put our dining room table together with the drop leaf table in the family room. I had always hoped we could fit the two together in the dining room for a larger crowd and it worked beautifully. Then we could fit twelve people around with plenty of room to move around. Chris wasn't thrilled about lugging the table over, but he'd be fine eating every meal over the kitchen sink if it were up to him. Men just don't get setting a nice table. I put out my white table cloths, chargers, my nice silverware, and glassware, and the whole nine. I LOVE that stuff! It's like playing tea party as an adult! Then we watched "The Testaments" before the Guymons had to leave. It was such a fun Easter! It was really nice having Conference weekend over Easter. I didn't get to dress the kids all up, but it was nice taking things at our own pace and not having too strict of a schedule. It would have been perfect if the weather had cooperated.

Happy Heart Day!

What is not to love about Valentines Day! Flowers, chocolates, little cards with adoring messages. It just makes a person happy no matter what. The boys have been waiting and waiting. Cai woke up at 4 a.m. and got in bed with me. He woke again at 6:30 and laid awake next to me until 7:30. Finally he says, "Mom get up! Today is going to be the best day ever, I totally can't wait to go to school." Believe me starting the day on that note was a blessing in and of itself. I'm usually pushing and prodding them along amidst angry grumbles about when the next vacation day they will get.

So to my favorite Valentines in the whole world. Here's what I love about you:

Cai

Cai you are so easy to love, you have a such a sweet sensitive personality. I love that you are always looking out for the needs and feelings of others. I love to watch you when you are imagining something. You get so quiet and thoughtful you can almost see the stars in your eyes. I love your dramatic personality. You can really ham it up, and I love your great sense of humor. I can always count on a goofy expression on your face and a funny one liner. You are also so talented and creative. I love that you enjoy painting and drawing and build things just like me. We love you so much and are so happy that you are a part of our family.

Cole!

We should have spelled your name with an exclamation mark on your birth certificate! I love your sparkle and zest for life. You are always so passionate about whatever you are doing. One of my favorite things is watching you play the Wii. Your bouncing, jabbing, jumping, punching air karate, is so much fun to watch. I love that you leave your heart wide open
and put it all on the line for your friends and family. You just care so deeply, it makes my heart ache when you are dissapointed. You live life at one volume and that is loud! I love that you are so focused and particular when you are doing something. You always try so hard to do things exactly right, whether it is coloring, sports, puzzles, games or Wii. I just know that your focus and tenacity will really take you places.

Cate

Little did we know after naming you after TWO queens (Catherine Victoria) that, that was just what we were getting... a little princess. I could hardly believe my ears when shortly after pronouncing "mama" for the first time "shzzzzzz (shoes)" was soon to follow. Your preference for pink

started before you could even crawl, and we can't get away with a single outfit that isn't slathered in pink. You are trying to grow up so fast it makes my heartache. I love that you know what you want and do everything you can to get it. Your persistence, determination and creativity is exhausting at times, but I am certain that those are the exact qualities that will lead you to greatness. You don't take no for an answer. You know what you want and you go to work getting it. I can already see your talents coming into focus. You love to create, decorate, and cook already. I can't wait for the day we can do those things together even more. I know I get frustrated with the day to day "projects" you get into (Valentines cards for your Grandmas SLATHERED in sparkly pink lipgloss, cutting and cutting and cutting tiny pieces of paper, dumping out glitter all over the hardwood floor, I'm sure we'll be finding glitter for years to come out of the couch cushions and cracks in the floor) but I'm certain that SOMEDAY you will be a very talented little crafter, artist, and cook. I love your bouncy blonde curls and sparkly blue eyes. It is a rare day that your aren't smiling for most of it. We love you so much, and no matter how old you get or how much you hate to hear it, you will always be our baby girl.

Chris

What good is a Valentines day that you can't schmooze your sweetheart? I know I tell you all the time but I thank my lucky stars everyday that I get to spend the rest of eternity with you. I NEVER thought I could be so compatible with another human being. We fit together so perfectly. Our humor, our tastes, our interests (most of them at least), we even see eye to eye on politics. I love that you help me compenstate for my weaknesses and make me want to be a better person. I have no clue what made you set your sights on that strange girl with the purple hair, red lipstick, wacky clothes and combat boots. But I am so glad that you took the time to see what was under all that, and I'm glad that your were persistent enough to let me see how compatible we were even though we seemed worlds apart. The 13 years we have been together have been the happiest of my life. I admire you so much for all that you have accomlished. I honestly just stand in awe of you sometimes. Thanks for putting up with my quirks, my weaknesses, my crazy projects, and my hairbrained ideas. Plently of people would have had me committed by now, but you have always supported me. I shudder to think of a life without you in it.

I found it!

Here is the perfect way to get your kids motivated to do their chores, and set goals. It is really cool and my kids are loving it. After some research to find a way to get our family going on a more consistent schedule. I came across this website, at myrewardboard.com. Cai and Cole are really excited about it love to add their "happies" every day. The program keeps track of their progress, allowance, and goals then it pays out once a week. It has a piggy bank, chore chart, goal chart, and offers extra star points for perfect chores days or meeting their personal goals.

It may be time, no definitely time for a schedule

For anyone who knows me, I am not a schedule girl. I fly by the seat of my pants on a daily basis. I am at my best in a hardcore crisis, but the daily grind.....UGHHHHH. I would rather chew glass. I live for a challenge as long as it does not involve endurance. The endurance part is truly the worst. Maybe I am not so different from anyone else, I am just overindulgent in my whims and calendrically challenged.
But it's definitely time for a change. We have a typical bedtime and routine beforehand, but breakfast lunch and dinner are totally sporadic depending on the activities of the day or when Chris gets home which is usually sometime around 6-9 p.m. (see my problem). Chores are sporadic for the kids, and I just float from one mess to another it seems. But mostly I try to find an emergency project for Y.W. or the kids school, or the house, as a diversion. I really live for the diversions. But this approach is soooo not working.

So for the past two days I am really trying to act like an adult. The kids have before school and afterschool chores, and we are trying to eat lunch at noon and dinner at 6:30 at the table together with or without my husband. So far so good, but just wondering if anyone has any grand ideas that are REALISTIC. I've done some research on the internet, and some people (mostly those that post their 3 page schedules) are probably a little on the hyperschedule side of things. So if anyone has any simple ideas that they've found work please let me know. We are still a work in progress. I may need to post a countdown to see how long I can keep this up.

Christmas and New Years!

What a crazy, but awesome holiday! The kids could hardly wait for Christmas this year. It made me remember those sleepless nights as a kid, just dying for morning to come. We could hardly sleep. We promised the kids this year that we would deck out their rooms for Christmas. I have been wanting to get to it anyways and since they have way more toys than they need, we could limit the toy shopping a bit. They were so excited. We couldn't have them sleep in their rooms for about three nights before Christmas so I could set it all up, so that just added to the drama.

Cai's room is very scienceish (wow that sounds smart), he already had a big T-Rex head that our dry-waller made in the plaster above his desk, and a few dinosaur skeletons so we went with a science theme. I built him a new headboard with two lightboards inside it to showcase some new animal x-rays and a few little cupboards behind the pillows for his "treasures" (code for the crazy junk he can't get rid of). I only had to spend about $15 for the wood since everything else was left over from construction. I love how it turned out! We bought him a new lightning lamp globe thing, and put glow in the dark planets all over his ceiling. I built shelves in the columns on either side of his art desk finally to showcase his rock collection and science books. Cai's exciting Christmas included losing his first tooth! We were all at Grandma Guymons opening presents and he had just opened his microscope kit. He took the tweezers out and pulled on his tooth with them and VOILA! He actually pulled it out and then quickly examined it under the microscope. You should have seen the look on his face he was totally in shock! The first photo is just before he lost an and the second is right after.

It was so fun to see Cole in his Kindergarten Christmas program. They sang a ton of songs and they all knew them so well. It was fun to watch. Cole was so excited to get a rudolph shirt just like Cai. For Cole's room he is very interested in planes, trains, cars, etc. so we continued with the vintage planes, trains, and automobiles theme in his room. I built him a big roll-out trundle box to fit under his bed for a new AFX slot car track. Then we could screw down the track and he could play with it easier without having to put it away and rebuild it every time. Chris was salivating over that one. I don't know if it was for Cole or him. It's funny to watch dad's live vicariously through their kids sometimes. But Cole loved it, it even had an upside down loop and a section that goes up on the wall. Then I hung up airplanes all over his room with an airplane and helicopter that fly around on fishing line. I put up part of the track for Chris' train eventually we want to finish the track all the way around his room, but later. Then we put Chris' dad's old Matchbox car set into a shadowbox frame to display on his wall. He had some cool European cars and American ones with moving parts that were pretty unique.

Cate had one request for her room. She wanted "pretty" pillows, and that was the one thing I didn't finish in time, but she didn't seem to notice. I made her a valance for her window and made a quilt top for her bed. I was pressed for time on getting it quilted in time so we're going duvet style right now. Then I made a big canopy over her bed out of tulle, and an Asian style umbrella. It took a marathon session to finish the quilt and I managed to cut it out and piece it together in less than 24 hours while Chris took the kids to his mom's in S.L.C.. I only got 3 hours of sleep but I finished it!

Thankfully with their rooms complete I will never try that stunt again. Good to have a deadline, but so not good for the Holidays I think birthday's would have been a better idea. Especially since I had a gynormous wedding cake to do the week before Christmas too. I felt like I ignored everyone trying to get stuff done, so sorry If anyone felt neglected. One of those things that seem like a good idea at the time, but later you really pay for it. I loved this cake though Christmas weddings are so fun and I loved doing the snowflakes. Flowers just get really old.

We partied all week between Christmas and New Years in our traditional style. It seems when all my sisters and brother get together the fun never ends. We spent a few days up in Garden City sledding and playing in the snow, and then everyone came to our house to play games and hot tub. My mom and dad watched all the kiddos for us and the kids and spouses all took a priceless opportunity to all go out to eat together and catch a movie. It is so fun to hang out together as adults and actually get a chance to talk to each other. Thanks mom and dad! It was an awesome evening. The house was even still standing when we returned home.

We took a few days in between Pope celebrations to hang out with Gabe and Debbie. Chris and Gabe brought all of Chris' D.J. equipment in the house and set it up for the kids. They lined them all up outside the theater room door and turned on the fog machine and laser lights. It was hilarious to watch them dance like rock stars! I think the bass about shook the house down! Then we went to the fun park for pizza, bowling, laser tag, and the softplay. Then we all packed up and headed to Kerrie's for New Years Eve, and had a great time. The kids stayed up until the ball dropped, and then we all had a fun Blue's Clues Birthday party for Colin in the morning before everyone had to start heading home.