Sunday, July 31, 2011

The Father's Eyes

Preston and I gave a lesson in our sunday school class today about fathers. I know it's a little past Father's Day and all but I just thought I would share this touching story I found. :)


This teenager lived alone with his father, and the two of them had a very special relationship. Even though the son was always on the bench, his father was always in the stands cheering. He never missed a game.This young man was still the smallest of the class when he entered high school. But his father continued to encourage him but also made it very clear that he did not have to play football if he didn't want to.

But the young man loved football and decided to hang in there. He was determined to try his best at every practice, and perhaps he'd get to play when he became a senior. All through high school he never missed a practice nor a game, but remained a bench warmer all four years. His faithful father was always in the stands, always with words of encouragement for him.

When the young man went to college, he decided to try out for the football team as a "walk-on." Everyone was sure he could never make the cut, but he did. The coach admitted that he kept him on the roste because he always puts his heart and soul into every practice, and at the same time, provided the other members with the spirit and hustle they badly needed.The news that he had survived the cut thrilled him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and called his father. His father shared his excitement and was sent season tickets for all the college games.

This persistent young athlete never missed practice during his four years at college, but he never got to play in the game.It was the end of his senior football season, and as he trotted onto the practice field shortly before the big play off game, the coach met him with a telegram. The young man read the telegram and he became deathly silent. Swallowing hard, he mumbled to the coach, "My father died this morning. Is it all right if I miss practice today?" The coach put his arm gently around his shoulder and said, "Take the rest of the week off, son. And don't even plan to come back to the game on Saturday.

Saturday arrived, and the game was not going well. In the third quarter, when the team was ten points behind, a silent young man quietly slipped into the empty locker room and put on his football gear. As he ran onto the sidelines, the coach and his players were astounded to see their faithful teammate back so soon."Coach, please let me play. I've just got to play today," said the young man. The coach pretended not to hear him. There was no way he wanted his worst player in this close playoff game. But the young man persisted, and finally feeling sorry for the kid, the coach gave in. "All right," he said."You can go in."

Before long, the coach, the players and everyone in the stands could not believe their eyes. This little unknown, who had never played before was doing everything right. The opposing team could not stop him. He ran, he passed, blocked and tackled like a star. His team began to triumph. The score was soon tied. In the closing seconds of the game, this kid intercepted a pass and ran all the way for the winning touchdown.

The fans broke loose. His teammates hoisted him onto their shoulders. Such cheering you've never heard! Finally, after the stands had emptied and the team had showered and left the locker room, the coach noticed that the young man was sitting quietly in the corner all alone. The coach came to him and said, "Kid, I can't believe it. You were fantastic! Tell me what got into you? How did you do it?"

He looked at the coach, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Well, you knew my dad died, but did you know that my dad was blind?" The young man swallowed hard and forced a smile, "Dad came to all my games, but today was the first time he could see me play, and I wanted to show him I could do it!"





Me and my Dad

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Happy 4th of July!!!!

This 4th of July weekend was the best!!!

Preston and I love the 4th of July! We had such a fun three day weekend.

Friday after work we went to Seven Peaks for a little while and then we went to a little fair here in Provo. It was so much fun walking around the booths and getting some yummy food. I can't wait until Fair Days in Heber and I'm way excited for Swiss Days! Anyways, after that we went back to Seven Peaks for some after hours fun with Rob and Tawni. There's a new slide there that uses mats so we decided to take the mats down a bunch of slides. It was really fun, except I hit my head way hard at the bottom of a slide (my head seriously takes a huge blow at least once a year!)

The next day, Saturday, Preston went golfing and I went with my sister and my niece to the fair again. There was a reptile show that was so cool! I'll put up pictures of the animals... it was for little kids but I loved it! That evening we had a family barbecue with Preston's extended family. I got stuck sitting with all the guys and heard about sports and politics the whole time.. so exciting :)

After the bbq, we got to go to Stadium of Fire!!! It was my first time going and we got to sit on the field because we were with Qualtrics. I'm not even a huge fan of Brad Paisley but I LOVED the whole thing! The fireworks were amazing, especially watching them right over us! Ok, but the scariest thing ever was riding home from Stadium of Fire. We brought the scooter for a quick getaway, but there were still tons of cars to get through and Preston was swerving in and out of them and I seriously saw my life flash before my eyes more than once that night! It was Scary!

I'm not done there folks, this weekend just gets better and better!

Sunday was good, we just had church, a nap, and some Sunday dinner at Preston's house.
Monday was the 4th of July!! We went golfing, swam at the golf course, played tennis, had another barbecue, and made homemade ice cream! It was the perfect day!

I can't wait till next year!!!


Steve Irwin back from the dead!

Huge huge huge snake!


Me and my baby at Stadium of Fire

David Archuleta= Amazing voice!

American paraglider that almost hit us!


Brad Paisley was a foot away from touching my hand!


Best fireworks show ever!