Dreams do come true!

I realize that the posts recently have been text heavy, and I promise that we will be posting more pictures in the near future. However, I have to tell you about the experience Jasper had yesterday. Unfortunately, neither Erica nor I were there to try and capture some pictures of the event. Consequently, you just have to imagine this story. I have to say that I am intimidated by the task of trying to tell this story as an engineer by training with limited writing skills. Here we go...

Our friend Gayleigh came over to watch Jasper yesterday afternoon. Gayleigh loves Jasper and takes great care of him. While she and Jasper were playing out in the front yard, an Austin Firetruck went down our street. For those of you that haven't visited our home, just know that our street is only one block long, and having a truck drive down the street is not normal. Jasper was VERY excited, and quit playing to watch the truck disappear out of sight. Once she was sure it was gone, Gayleigh tried to encourage Jasper to go inside because it was getting late in the afternoon, but he just kept looking down the street where the truck disappeared. As time passed, Gayleigh was certain that the firetruck was gone.

Jasper wasn't convinced. He kept looking down the street saying "fi-truh". Then...it came back!

As the truck approached our house...IT STOPPED!!!

A fireman came out of the truck and stated that they had been on a call in out neighborhood. Instead of going straight back to the station, they decided to cruise through our neighborhood on a "goodwill" tour greeting children along the way. Just take a moment and let that settle in...then look at our home location on Google Maps.

What are the odds that the truck turns down our street?

What are the odds that Jasper is outside in our front yard as the truck comes down our street?

What are the odds that the truck comes back after going down our street once?

As I am writing this post, I'm thinking about the discussion that may have happened in the firetruck.

"Did you see that little kid in his front yard?"

"How could you miss that hair!"

"Why didn't you stop?"

A few minutes pass, and then one of them says, "We should go back and see if he wants a sticker."

Regardless of how it happened, the firetruck came back. Jasper got to walk up close to the firetruck, and the fireman gave him a fireman's badge sticker. He flinched a little when they turned on the siren, and he was pretty quiet during their short visit. Once they were gone, it was all Jasper wanted to talk about.

Gayleigh said that it was even tougher to get Jasper to come in after the truck left. Then, once he was inside, he kept saying "fi-truh" and pointing out the window. He wanted to look at his firetruck book, and he walked around carrying the sticker.

When I arrived home from work, Jasper greeted me with a cute "Hi dad!", but then he said "fi-truh" and came running to me holding up his badge. It was so adorable, and I didn't even know the story at that point. My jaw hit the floor as Gayleigh explained his experience...dreams do come true!