Texas vs. BYU

Aaron and I bought tickets to the University of Texas vs. BYU game in Austin. As I stepped onto the plane in Salt Lake wearing my Longhorn shirt, I looked over a sea of blue shirts and knew it was going to be a long flight. We when arrived at our hotel the front desk attendant said, "You are from Utah, you said you came down for the game but, she is wearing orange. How can that be?" We explained that we are Longhorn fans.

The atmosphere around the stadium was incredible! We parked about a mile from the stadium. As soon as we stepped out of the car we could smell the BBQ from the tailgating. The Texas fans bring a whole new meaning to the word tailgating.

 We were there over the weekend of September 11th. It was neat to see all the flags on the stadium flying at half staff in memory of the 10th anniversary of that day.

 The view from the stadium was great! This the the famous tower that lights up orange to commemorate accomplishments of the University.

 We didn't want to miss a thing so we arrived early. In fact, we were some of the earliest  people to arrive in the stadium. We didn't care, the game was well worth the wait.

We enjoyed the pregame activities. We watched the team warm up on the field.

We were there when the band made their grand entrance.

We loved the moment of silence in memory of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

The stadium was full of Texas pride. We felt  right at home.

For those of you who have never experienced Texas, you may wonder why. This sign sums it up perfectly.

There is something to be said about being in a stadium with over 101,000 screaming fans. That would be the equivalent of every man, woman, and child in Cache Valley. We were so  happy to be a part of it all.

The stadium was electric as the team came out on the field!

They crossed the field and knelt together as  a team in the far end zone to pray.

Let the game begin! BYU was the first to score. In fact, they dominated the first half. I was starting to worry that we paid all that money just to watch UT lose to BYU. In the end, the Longhorns prevailed and pulled off the win! Hook 'em Horns!

It is different being inside the stadium versus watching the game on TV. The game was longer and it was obvious at times that the game was paused for TV commercials. Having said that, there is nothing like watching it live. The half time show was spectacular!

 The energy in the stadium is indescribable.  Texas  knows how to use the crowd to affect the game. The noise level inside of there at critical moments was momentous! We LOVED being there and being part of the crowd. It was a great weekend!

We enjoyed the game so much that we decided to give Este a Texas football game for his birthday. Aaron and Este flew back to Austin to watch the Kansas State game. They obviously didn't take as many pictures as I did since they didn't even take one photo. They had fun even though Texas lost that game. The Longhorns didn't have the perfect season  but they beat A&M in their last rival game. For us Longhorn fans, that alone makes the season a success.

Basketball Boys

Okay, so I'm going back in time a few months for this post.

Ethan played recreational basketball for the first time this year. I was quite nervous for him since he is in the sixth grade playing against guys who have played since they were in the 1st grade. He did pretty well. I was grateful he had an understanding coach and there were other kids on his team who were also rookies. He had lots of fun and enjoyed himself immensely .He scored only once in the season, which is what he was hoping for (I know, we're such high achievers in this family). You see, last year was AJ's rookie year and he scored only once. Ethan said he couldn't live with himself if he scored less than AJ his first year. Ethan played some great defense and improved every game.

Last year, AJ played on a team with lots of his friends. He had fun but they lost every game. This year he was on a team with none of his close friends and as far as loosing, things were a bit different. He asked me to take a picture of the scoreboard at the end of their last game.

I don't think he would have wanted me to post the photo if he was on the loosing team. It is sad when, even as a parent, you start cheering for the other to team.

The other thing that warmed AJ's heart this year is the fact that his team mascot was the Longhorns. Each team is randomly assigned a mascot. Could this have been more perfect for my little Texan? He proudly displayed the hook 'em horns hand gesture with the rest of his team.As far as scoring he reached his goal, he scored once in the season. Yeah! Again, he played great defense and had lots of fun. What else matters in life?So, maybe neither of these two will be the next NBA protege but, they had fun, learned the game, and found a way to get some exercise during the cold winter months.