Defeated

We are HUGE BYU fans. And that may be a slight understatement. We also happen to have friends who are Utes fanatics. Naturally, the BYU v. Utah game is a huge deal and sometimes people's lawns even end up with a giant red U spray painted on them (and our FedEx man thought we were Utes fans -- the horror). This year we had planned a rivalry party full of red and blue. . . even the food. And then (cue ominous music). . . Stake Conference was scheduled.

Already we (mainly me) were torn. I told Dustin he could do whatever he wanted, but the kids and I were going to the Bryner's. Dustin was convinced BYU would lose if we didn't go to Stake Conference (not really). And then (more ominous music) . . . they announced a General Authority would be coming. Dustin had meetings with him starting at 4 and I had a dinner with his wife followed by the Adult Session at 7 pm.

I felt like I was living Sophie's Choice!! Church or BYU? And isn't BYU pretty much the same thing as Church?? To the less awesome out there, maybe not, but you obviously do not love BYU as much as we do and therefore do not love the Gospel, so why are even going to Stake Conference anyway?

I know you're dying to hear our decision! You probably feel like you're reading Harry Potter right now and you have to know -- is Snape really good or bad??? Never fear, I will not make you read 7 books to find out.

We ended up deciding to be righteous. And by we, I think we all know I mean *me* because Dustin is always righteous and was always going to attend Stake Conference. But never fear, I had my sister all set up to text me updates. I only checked them in between speakers. I swear!! And Dustin made "I'm annoyed" sounds anytime I checked. But I bet he's glad I did.

In the end, it turns out being righteous results in immediate blessings: I did not have to suffer through that miserable game. BYU was trounced 53-10. At one point I asked my sister if she was making it all up because BYU could not possibly be playing this poorly. Sadly no. Our Utes friends said they were even hoping BYU would score at some point near the end because it was so sad to watch. I am so glad I didn't have to see the disappointment on my kids' faces. And the point of this story is: The tender mercies of the Lord are REAL! Even when it comes to football. And while the score was 40-10 we made to executive decision to go out for dessert with our friends and deleted the game off of our DVR when we got home.

Sunday night we headed over to the preplanned post-game party. I had been expecting to celebrate our clear superiority, but obviously I needed to learn humility and teach my kids that sometimes even BYU loses to the U. But not often. And clearly not where academics are concerned. We made some cookies and I even wore a red shirt!! My kids said congratulations and that was about the end of the story because as our friends so lovingly pointed out, "You can't even gloat over a win like that." Thanks for being gracious winners!!!

We had lots of yummy desserts and hung out while the kids played. Luke decided to use an airplane as a spoon and Sadie and Logan reminded us that Red and Blue can in fact co-exist: