BYU Fan

When I was growing up, football was not even a remote part of my home or family life. As a kid, the most I knew about football was that it was the annoying thing on TV that kept popping up as my dad was surfing the channels looking for his "John Wayne" movie. I became a little more aware of the game when I started Bingham and there were games every Friday night. At that point, the games served as a perfect social scene which I rarely missed. I attended those games faithfully for 3 years but I probably watched about 3 minutes in the whole 3 years I went. I only cared that my friends were there and we were probably going to go get ice cream after. I was aware that Bingham players were out on the field, but to me it just seemed like they were a bunch of frustrated teen agers letting out some aggression and tackling eachother. I did not see any rhyme or reason to the game, nor did I care to learn. Then I met Jake and the choice was no longer mine. I married into a family that "bled blue" (a phrase I am now familiar with but originally thought that they were just trying to describe a bad bruise) and were season ticket holders since the dawn of time. As a matter of fact, my and Jake's first date was a BYU game and what an eye opener that was. Imagine going on a first date with someone you have only known for about a week. First dates are always a little scary and inevitably awkward no matter how hard you try. Now add in the facts that he takes you to a game that you know nothing about and actually somewhat despise because all of the football players you have known in the past were cocky pigs. AND.... as you are walking into the stadium, your date informs you that his entire family is there because they are avid BYU fans and have season tickets. (I still give Jake a hard time about this. It would have been nice to tell me these things on the phone when he asked me out. Somehow, these facts were left out.) So, there I am, sitting with his whole family, trying to impress them and not look like a complete goon but I don't have a clue what is going on. I don't know when to jump up and down in celebration or when to get upset. And then the worst part of it all. Cougars score and everybody gets to their feet and starts singing the fight song word for word as if it were a song on the Top 100 radio station that plays everyday and gets in your head and you can't get it out. I felt like a complete idiot. I sat there wishing I had paid closer attention to all of those Bingham games but what could I do. I just hoped they wouldn't notice what an uneducated fool I was in the arena of football.

Fast forward 8 years later. Yesterday was the infamous BYU vs. Utah rivalry game and the Hancock BYU party was at my house this year. Now, you are probably thinking that this is a day that I would dread, but ironically, it is a day that I had been looking forward to for quite some time. Since marrying Jake, I have become very fond of this crazy game of football. When we lived in California Jake would love to spend his Saturday afternoons watching college football and since we didn't have any family around and my idea of fun did not include wandering around LA by myself, I would sit down and watch it with him. Somewhere along the way I got sucked in to the excitement and that is when I was hooked. Now I am addicted. I find myself sitting on the couch screaming phrases like "quarterback sack" and "third and out". Phrases that might as well been Chinese 8 years ago. I love it though. I love talking about the game for days after with Jake. I love getting together with the family and feeling the emotion of the game surge through the room. And finally, I love that I now can proudly say, without any hesitation, I "bleed blue"!

P.S. Congrats to all you Ute fans out there. It was a tough game for us Cougars but you earned that win! We'll see you next year in Provo!

What happened???

Have you ever had one of those moments when you look around and wonder how in the heck you got to where you are that very moment. This happened to me the other day and I have been reeling from it ever since. I was driving up to my mom's the other day and Tylie was in the back seat going on and on about things that only Tylie could understand. I glanced in the rear view mirror and I saw this adorable little girl with pigtails smiling back at me. Then I realized that Mason had been cooing in his seat the whole time but I had been so busy listening to Tylie that I hadn't really heard him. That is when it hit me. A moment that I am bound to remember for a long time. I felt like I had warped through time I and was completely stunned that somehow along the way, I had aquired the "american dream" and I did not even realize it. In what seemed like a matter of moments, I had gotten married, had 2 children, built our first home, and became one of those mom's that drove their kids around in an SUV with the back seat full of diaper bags and car seats. It freaked me out! I swear that just the day before I was walking down the hallway at Bingham headed to choir class. At this time of year, we would be preparing for our annual "Candlelight" performance and my biggest stresses would be to make sure that I could stay awake through the rest of my classes until 3:00 when school got out and my day would be over. (How would it be to be done with your day at 3:00???) It truly was a strange moment. I would have sworn to you that someone had locked me in a time capsule and I was just waking up after someone else had lived my life for the past 8 years. I felt like I should introduce myself to Tylie because it just did not seem reasonable that I would have a two year old that called me mom. I felt like I was way to young to be in the situation that I was in. Oh, but then reality hit!!! I am turning 27 this year. The days of Bingham and easy living were long over. I do have 2 kids and a husband and all the responsiblilties of the average adult. It just always seemed like having my own family and owning my own home was an unattainable goal when I was younger. And then somewhere down the line, it just happened with out me realizing what was happening. Well, whatever steps it took to get me where I am, I am thrilled. But it is a crazy feeling to have those moments when you realize where you are in life. I wonder what kind of moment I am going to have when I am helping Tylie into her wedding dress or standing at the airport waving goodbye to Mason and he leaves on his mission. I can only hope that I am just as happy with my life as I am now.

Halloween

Here are a few pictures from Halloween. Tylie loved being Cinderella. She felt that it is only natural that she is a princess. With the way that her attitude has been lately, I started to think that she decided to permanently be a princess. Anyway, as you can tell from the pictures, Mason did not think that dressing up was much fun. It was a fun Halloween and now it is time to gear up for the holiday season.

Wonderful grandparents

I would like to take a few moments and pay homage to the wonderful grandparents in my children's lives. My Grandma and Grandpa Barfuss were up at my mom's the other day and Tylie somehow convinced them to play this silly game with her. They would balance a plastic plate on their head and then flip it off all together. It is a wonder why but Tylie thought that this was hilarious and just did it over and over again. I just laughed because only grandparents would play this game as long as they did and, on top of that, allow a picture to be taken so the moment would never be forgotten.

As I was driving home that night, I started to think to myself about how lucky Tylie and Mason are to have so many grandparents in their lives. All together, they have about 10 grandparents that are still alive. They have all made an effort to have a relationship with my kids and I hope that Tylie and Mason remember the time that they have with them. I know that many of their grandparents will never read this but I truly hope they know how much I appreciate all that they do for my kids. Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Barfuss for all the special cards and never missing an important event. Thank you to Grandma Hancock for taking time to come visit at the hospital and our home. Out of so many grandchildren, you took time on your vacation to come see us and that means a lot. Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Woodbury for tolerating Tylie's constant jabber when you come to visit, even when I know it gets old quickly. And finally, how can I say thank you enough to my and Jake's parents. Jake's mom has the patience of Job when it comes to grandkids and Jake's dad doesn't think twice about getting down with the kids and rolling around with them and becoming a human jungle gym. I am so grateful to my mom and her willingness to take the kids for me whenever something comes up. I think that she and tylie were made out of the same mold because they are attached at the hip and it is a stuggle to break them apart whenever we need to go home. Tylie has a special bond with her that it hard to deny. And my dad.... it has become a tradition that every time we leave their house, he carries out tylie and puts her in her car seat. Then he will stand there and jump up and down for tylie waving goodbye until we are out of sight. This has to happen or tylie thinks that something is wrong in the world because papa was not there for her. I know that it seems like a small thing but he will never know how much I love that. It will be forever impressed on my mind of him standing in the driveway, smiling as we drive away. I am so grateful for the lessons that they have all taugt me and now are teaching my children. I hope that I can always remember what a blessing it is to have them involved in our lives.