Uppers

Yesterday, at church, I talked to a guy that is living here while his family is home in Colorado Springs trying to sell their house. They will be moving here when it sells. Talking to him about the Springs gave me a huge lump in our throat, especially because they were in our old Stake. And then we discovered that his daughter goes to Aerials gymnastics in the Springs. We then discovered that I know his wife and have talked to her several times when Mary was in gymnastics. She is a twin, and her twin sister had a daughter in Mary's class. When we put it all together, I had a big cloud come over me. I felt horrible about taking Mary out of gymnastics, especially because all of the memories from Aerials and how happy she was there came flooding back. Thinking of Aerials made me then think of the rest of the town, and it went from there. I was 2 seconds away from tears the rest of the afternoon.

That evening, Mary asked me if she could call Tyler, her friend from Colorado. She was really missing him, I could tell. So, she called him. We talked to "the good neighbors" on the phone. It was sooooo wonderful to talk to them. Mary LOVED talking to Tyler. I was beyond excited to talk to Mel. Since then, however, I have been a blubbering mess. I can't seem to shake it.

We are doing fine here in Utah. We have friends, we like our house, we love our neighborhood, ect. BUT, we are still in the adjustment phase and at times it makes me crave the comfort and joy of our life in Colorado.

In order to try to get back on track, I am trying to focus on the "uppers." The good things that have occurred. There is one in particular that just melts my heart.

The other day, as we were walking in to wamart, Sam noticed a firetruck parked next to the store. Sam walked over to the truck in complete awe and admiration, he touched the truck. It was as if he were seeing a real dinosaur for the first time. He was so awe struck he wasn't even talking. He just kept stroking the truck.

I finally got him to go into the store, and right when we got through the doors, the firemen came walking by. Sam stopped right there in his tracks and stared at the firemen. It caught their attention and they waved to Sam. Sam stayed perfectly still, jaw wide open and very slightly raised his hand and waved back. They firemen began walking away and Sam kept staring. They looked back and Saw him still standing there looking at them like they were Gods. They waved again and walked out the door. Sam followed them in his stupor and stopped right outside the door. He was watching them get into the truck. Again, his jaw was down and he was frozen in place. The firemen noticed Sam standing there, so they turned on the truck lights. Sam's only reaction was a very soft and reverent, "cool" coming out of his mouth. His eyes were still fixed on the firetruck with the firemen in it. I was standing next to him trying to gently get him to go back into the store. It was FREEZING.

A few seconds later, the door to the firetruck opened, and one of the firemen hopped out and walked over to Sam. He had a blown up latex glove balloon in his hand. He knelt down in front of Sam and said, "hey little dude. We don't have any fireman badges to give you, but we wanted to give you this balloon. Have a good day, o.k." Sam muttered a soft, "thank you." Then the fireman got back in the truck. As they drove off, they gave a small honk of the horn and waved to Sam. Sam finally got over the shock and immediately was so excited he could hardly stand it. His glove balloon had a cute smiley face drawn on it, and it didn't leave his hands the rest of the day. Such a precious moment for my little boy.