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.

Red River Shootout

Today was a big day for college football in Texas. It was the Red River Shootout. The media kept referring to it as the Red River Rivalry. I told Aaron that maybe they want less violence in the title. Aaron replied, "Football is violent." (He has a point.)

Today was the big game between our beloved Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners. The tradition of these teams playing started 103 years ago. Going into this game, both teams were undefeated. OU was ranked #1 in the nation with UT at #5. Not only were the conference title and possibly the national title was on the line, but bragging rites were on the line. (That might just be the most important aspect of the whole thing.

Aaron recorded the game and started it later so he wouldn't have to sit through any commercials. He and the boys spent the afternoon glued to the couch. He went to the store and came home with "party food". (There goes the budget and the diet.)
The end result, Texas won. This means the rest of the day was happy. The rest of the season and even the rest of the year will be happy.

In closing, here is a sign I recently made for our Texas room.

Only Orange

It was bad enough when Esteban insisted on wearing burnt orange (the color of the University of Texas Longhorns) every Friday. Now, he insists on it every day. The problem is, he only has three shirts that meet his requirements. He wants more shirts that say Longhorns on them but, they are not so easy to come by these days. As we walked into Footlocker a while back, he asked why everything was University of Utah or BYU. I kindly explained to him the we live in Utah now.

I know I could order them online, but remember my hang up about paying full price for things? Add shipping charges to that, and it's not going to happen.

One thing does help me with my dilemma, burnt orange has become a very popular color. I was able to pick up this shirt recently which made him happy because it was orange and it made me happy because I won't be turned in for neglect.
I'm sure it has been easy on his teacher, he is always the kid in the orange shirt. Now, if she could just learn to pronounce his name....

It's not just his clothes. He has an orange backpack, coat, hats, and scissors at school. Do I stop the obession or let it go, due to the fact it is part of his personality? He is old enough to choose for himself and I figure I have bigger battles to fight down the road. It could be worse right?