BYU football: a first game story

BYU played New Mexico state the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and since we were already in the state we got tickets and went down for the game. Our girls had never attended a BYU football game before and their time had come.



We dressed up in our blue and white and snapped a few photos before leaving Claire's house. We decided to drive with the boys in one car and the girls in the other, and Claire and I loaded up the girls and were ready to go.



 As we were on the road to the freeway, I heard a troubling sound coming from the back seat. Claire was driving, and I turned around to see Ada spewing in her car seat. It was coming out in droves, and I immediately reached my hand back to catch what I could.



Claire heard my distress, and almost crashed as she pulled the van to the side of the road. The boys car followed close behind and we got Ada out and changed as quickly as we could. Her vomit mostly landed on her beloved monkey and blanket, and we went looking for somewhere to wash them off. Luckily, we found a car wash a block down the road and the power spray seemed to do the job.





We got Ada a sprite and were back on the road with no further incidents. We arrived a little before the game and got some lunch and headed to the stadium. New Mexico state has a nice stadium, but it was half empty, and the majority of people there were BYU fans.

The girls watched well for the first half of the game and had a lot of questions about what was happening on the field. J explained the rules and they were happy to be part of the crowd. My dad treated us to a great halftime treat, which refuled their energy just in time to discover the stadium hill.



On the back of the stadium was a huge cement slab with New Mexico state's emblem on it. The BYU kids, however, just saw a huge slide going down the hill. For the last half of the game the girls were on their bellies, bottoms, and knees going down and running up the slide. It was hilarious to see all of the kids having such a ball and even the grown ups gave the slide a go.







We went down on the field after the game and got to give the players high fives and run up and down the grass. It was awesome! Just before leaving the field we noticed a TV opportunity and walked through the background of this interview. (Start the segment at 25 minutes). We're BYUTV stars and will give signatures for cash.

All in all the girls first BYU football game was a success and we're excited for more games to come!

Chicago

J and I took a great weekend trip to the Windy City.



We said goodbye to our girls and headed off alone.



We stayed downtown in the Fairmont with my parents, brothers, sister-in-law, nephew, and my brother's girlfriend. We love meeting up with family members to explore different places and vacation together.



Friday we toured the Windy City. I'd never been there before and absolutely loved it. Chicago has a beautiful downtown filled with modern, manly buildings, intersected by the Chicago river, overseen by the elevated train, and bordering the massive Lake Michigan.

We stopped in the Sears tower and tried to be brave as we stood on the 103 story sky deck- a panel of glass you can stand on that overlooks the city.

 


For lunch we ate Chicago style pizza at Giordianos and happened to meet up with J's brother James for a great chat.



In the afternoon/evening we took a bike ride along the lake, stopped at Navy Pier, walked through Millennium Park, got the required pictures by the Bean, ate dinner on Michigan Ave. and spent the night shopping at some of the fun and fancy stores on the magnificent mile.

 

Saturday we woke up early and left Chicago for South Bend, IN, home of the Notre Dame fighting Irish (and touchdown Jesus).



We started with a tour of the College Football hall of fame with Dave and Courtney (and sweet baby boy VCR) where we saw Lavell Edwards locker and J spent some time throwing the ball on the turf with his Dad and brother.

 

 Then we walked around the beautiful campus (gorgeous buildings and well preserved and maintained campus) talking and preparing for the game. The Notre Dame band escorts the team into the stadium before each game and it was a sight to see.




Inside the stadium, the next 4 quarters were a different matter and suffice it to say there were some long faces when we left.

We spent the night in Valparaiso, IN and saw their children's primary program (while at the same time missing the program of our own children at home). Bummer. Indiana was beautiful and we took the scenic route as we drove back into Illinois for our departing flight. Especially coming from the desert, it was so fun to experience great fall weather for a few days. The rain, the chilly wind, the beautiful changing leaves were a nice change of pace. Then we said goodbye to my family for a few months.



J and I dropped this sweet boy and his parents at the airport, and then had a few hours left in Chicago before our flight departed and decided to check out the Frank Lloyd Wright district in Oak Park.

 

It did not disappoint. We took a walking tour for an hour and heard about Wright's famous prairie style construction and saw several houses on the blocks that he'd been commissioned to design. They were each unique and had interesting features, but if we had to choose we'd land in this one.

 

We finished the afternoon off with a delicious sausage and Italian ice from Johnnie's and said goodbye to the fall weather and the windy city.



Get a load of this tree- it literally had leaves of every color.  Beautiful.



We arrived home to find all was well with our children. Our wonderful friends kindly consented to come to our house and stay with the girls while we were away and we couldn't be more grateful to them for holding everything down so well! Clean house, happy girls, and a welcome home sign were all we needed to feel like we'd arrived back in paradise.



Fall football trips/destination vacations are the way to go. This is one tradition that we'll keep for years to come.

Run!

So I have to report that Saturday I completed a 15 mile run! I was totally nervous the night before and dreading it, and about 1 block into it I was ready to stop. But step by step I kept forging ahead and ended up having an awesome experience. I ran downtown and got some hill work, to run through a mountain, to be in the city, and to run on a shaded tree lined trail with a ton of other people. The esprit de corps of being with other people really buoyed me up and gave me hope that I can do this marathon thing. This weekend is the 20 miler and then it's down hill from there.

Brackets

Wednesday night J spent some time filling out NCAA brackets with the big girls.

J explanied the seeding process to Lauren and told her that low numbers were better. She thoughtfully spent 20 minutes making her selections online and is currently tied with both of us in the CBS college bracket standings.

 Lauren's bracket

With Ellie, J read her the name of the two competing teams and she told him the one she thought would win. Her decision making process was quite interesting. She ended up picking teams that sounded familiar to her. For example, 15th seed UC Santa Barbara made it to her sweet 16 (Ellie BARBARA being her name). She loved Temple and advanced them several times. Of course she chose BYU and Utah State, but when it came time for them to compete with each other she had a hard time choosing a winner. She ended up going with BYU. (That's Daddy's girl). She picked Arizona (I wonder why?) to win it all over Georgetown (think Curious George). And for some inexplicable reason she loved Cincinnati and advanced them to the elite 8 as well.

Ellie's Bracket

I think this is a tradition that will definitely have to continue.

Tennis

J and I are taking tennis lessons.

They start tomorrow morning.

At the community center.

For 2 hours each.

For the next 7 weeks.

I signed up for intermediate and he's in the advanced class.

They were cheap.

It is now 10:30.

I should go to bed so I can wake up fresh at 7:00.

I am scared.

Of getting my bum kicked.

Of totally embarrassing myself.

I should have signed up for beginning lessons.

But I've already taken beginning lessons 5 times.

2 hours of playing tennis is a lot.

7 weeks could be a long time.

Here goes nothing.

Post Script
So thankfully tennis today was fine. I am not the best, but not the worst. It was good to play for 2 straight hours. If anyone is ever up for a game, just let me know.