Fully Invested

We split up for Thanksgiving this year. Kelly stayed in Spokane with Wilson, Cooper, Eliza, and Max. They upheld the tradition of delivering meals on wheels, and enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast in Spokane with the Frederickson family. Marcos and I flew to Utah to be with the Lundberg family. Marcos traveled incredibly well. I know that we were being watched over (it was probably Kelly's prayers). I could not remember how to get to Elk Ridge, but miraculously we drove straight to Russ and Pam's house. We were immediately welcomed, and fortunately food had been saved from Thanksgiving. Marcos greeted the family with a blowout diaper-that boy can fill a diaper. After he was cleaned up (so bad it required a full body bath), he was ready to play with his cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandparents.

Everyone teared up as Mom and Dad told stories from their mission. They told story after story of prayers being answered on a daily basis. Dad said "be careful what you pray for, because you will get it." We each shared our gratitude for grandparents who know, and live the gospel. What a blessing. We can all look to grandma and grandpa for a shining example of how to live the gospel. They are truly fully invested.

On the first night I stayed with Pam and Russ in order to go running with Russ in the morning...... Bad choice.....I am still stiff (just kidding). What a beautiful place they live in. Marcos slept all through the night and was again doted over in the morning. On the second night, I slept at Rand and Debbie's due to their proximity to the stadium, and the BYU bookstore. We went to the bookstore, and bought our new BYU cougars attire, with our fully invested T-shirts, and our face paint.

On the second night Marcos and I went to visit Tyler, Chelsea, Kate, Evan, and new baby Beck. What a beautiful baby, with perfect little features. I was taken back by his sweetness. I fed him a bit too much, and he paid me back with a nice spit up. Together we watched the Louisville vs BYU basketball game. Yea! This was a good start to the Cougar weekend. I then got to stay and talk with Tyler and Chelsea. I had them all to myself this time. I stayed until almost 11:00pm. I hope I did not over stay my welcome. They are so easy to talk to that time goes by fast. I then went back home to Debbie and Rands. I woke up early the next morning to prepare for the game. We painted our faces, got pictures, and then went to the game.

We were fully invested. We got there 1 and 1/2 hours early, and sat and enjoyed the energetic build up to the game, with music stretching, and dancing. Russ wanted to develop our own dance routine.....but Rand was not quite confidant in the dance so we nixed that.

I cannot believe it. Another year, another last minute win. Two years in a row I have bought tickets to the "Holy War" on e-bay and have been 20 rows up from the game winning touchdown. This year the stakes were definately higher. With Rand, Russ, and myself having painted our faces blue (see picture) with white letters, and black outline. The true, the proud, the TRUE BLUE COUGARS were fully invested. We each had a fully invested t-shirt. Due to the fact that we were not able to "storm the field" last year at Rice Eccles Stadium, this year we decided to join the crowd in storming the field. What an incredible game......Let me remind you.... 4th down and 18 yards to go with about 1 minute left in the 4th quarter of the game. Austin Collie gives the juke to his defender and streaks down the sidelines as Max Hall tip toes through a narrow pathway to freedom- to launch the bomb, Collie catches and gets pushed out of bounds. The crowd goes wild. Then Harvey the Mack Truck Unga blows through the hole and bowls over defenders, running in standing up in the endzone. The mania begins. Just then a couple of coeds rushed down the stands whispers to us "the zealots with face paint" to help them storm the field. Rand gave them the thumbs up, but said we first wanted to watch the rest of the game. As the game ended I felt like I was part of continuous flowing river. We got sucked into the river's current of bodies, and flowed onto the field. High fives, jumping, singing, and pandamonium. The announcer then requested that the fans "please leave the field"...... and as true blue BYU fans do.....we obeyed.

I cannot wait until next year.