Happiness is Swinging Forever

A friend from my ward called me this afternoon and asked if I'd like to meet her at the park.  She has a son Michael's age that was wanting to play, but her son is in morning kindergarten, Michael is in the afternoon.  I told her I'd love to, but that it was just Sadie and I, Michael was at school.   She cheerfully replied that that was just fine.  She then gave me directions to the park. I wrote them all down on a little white board on my fridge and took a picture so that I'd have them on my phone.

Directions...and a partial shopping list

I then tried to find the place.  Now, if I just followed my instincts and the directions instead of second guessing myself, I would have found the place in no time.  As it turned out, I drove around for a half an hour with Sadie in the back asking "Where are we going, Mama?  Are we going to the park?"  I eventually found the place; I had to give in and ask Siri for guidance.  Someday I'll be able to confidently get around without her assistance.  By the time I got to the park, poor Sadie was asleep, but woke right up when she realized where we were.

Oh my, what a park!  There were so many things there. . . a fort/treehouse looking thing, swings, play-sets, big hands holding a rock you could climb, a slide that went down a little hill...fun, fun, fun.  Sadie, my sweet girl, just wanted to swing.  She'd squeal and laugh like it was the best thing she'd ever done.  She told me she just wanted to swing forever.

This is her relaxed face, I love it. 

Totally excited to be swinging again

Happiness is Swinging Forever!

This is her attempt at trying to get away from me when I needed her to get ready to go.  

I can't wait to take the other littles to that park, they'll love it!  There is actually room for them to run and play, unlike our apartment complex.  How fun it was to get out and talk with some friends while our children could play.  The weather was about 62 degrees.  It's supposed to snow 4-10 inches this weekend, but be back in the sixties by Tuesday.  I'm not looking forward to more snow, but I'll take it if it comes with beautiful days like today on it's wings.  Today, I love Colorado.

We'll Raise our Colors High in the Blue, and Cheer the Cougars of BYU

As I was walking out of WalMart the other day, (don't judge me, I still detest the place, but with it being the nearest grocery store to us, sometimes I just can't justify a trip to another store when I need to get something quickly) I saw a young father with two cute little girls walking toward me.  I didn't really think anything of it until I noticed that he had on a BYU hat.  Feeling a bit lonesome for my familiar Utah Valley, I couldn't let him pass without acknowledging that I knew what that Y stood for.  So, I bravely said "I love your hat!" How silly it sounds now, but it was a comfort to see something so familiar in a place still somewhat foreign to me.

A couple days after that, I was wandering around Costco.  A new friend had invited all four of my children over to her house to play.  I had two glorious hours of  child-free  errands, so, I chose Costco as my children hate it there.  As I was meandering through the aisles trying to locate something that I never could find, I passed a young mother with a toddler playing happily in the cart.  The lady had on a BYU hoodie, and on this particular day, so did I.  We both smiled and pointed at eachother's sweaters.  "Nice hoodie" she said as she passed me. It was an exchange that again I was grateful for. It was as if I was being shown that I wasn't alone.  

I've  only ever taken one psychology class at the Y, and that was as a visiting summer student.  I was afraid that I did so poorly, I never even found out my final grade for the class.  My loyalty for BYU has nothing to do with being a student there, but my dear dad began working there  when I was 5 after his own graduation, and he works there still.  When my brother, sisters and I were little, sometimes my dad would bring home tickets for a football game.  It was always very excting to get to go.  We'd pack a cooler full of treats and drinks and bring it into the stands with us.  I loved doing the wave with the crowds, stopping my feet and joining in singing the fight song.  Good memories, lots of good memories are associated with BYU, and I was happy to be reminded that I'm really not that far away.