OSU Fiesta Bowl Champions - 2012!

So the big day arrives - New Year's Day - and the day we headed to the airport to begin our journey to the 2012 Tostito's Fiesta Bowl.  Now let me just say.....I was nervous. Not necessarily nervous for the Cowboys, but more nervous that our trip would go okay, provided that we were spending a little chunk of change on this "experience" and anyone that knows me, knows that I have trouble letting go of hard earned "chunks of change!"  But part of me really wanted the experience of this with my two boys and to see my beloved Cowboys in a really HUGE bowl game.

Okay, enough about that..........  I drugged myself up (yep, still struggling with that), we dropped off our sweet Brenley May to Me Ma and Pa Pa (not sure of those three who was more thrilled to be with each other!), and we headed to the Wichita Mid Continent Airport.

Got through security easy. Check.
Flight on-time. Check.
Flight takes off to Denver. Check
Arrive in Denver safely. Check
Next flight leaving Denver for Phoenix......Delayed. Uncheck.
One hour it says.  Okay. That's not terrible. We can still make our dinner plans.
Find out a little later that the Phoenix flight that was supposed to leave an hour before ours ended up getting canceled. Hmm....not good.  Long story short - they have a shortage of crew members - and I'm not talking about the pilot!!

So FINALLY after a long afternoon of waiting, and a super patient 8 year old, we left for Phoenix around 6:45.  We were supposed to be in Phoenix by 6:45.  Just a few HOURS later than scheduled.

That meant dinner with my bestie and her family was failed. We finally got into Phoenix around 8:15. Got the rental car and headed to the hotel. At 9:00, I think, we were eating fast food burgers. By 10:00, we were in our hotel room. Okay, not the best start, but we made it there.

Next morning, we were up and at 'em, and anxious to get to the game, but wait......it didn't start for another 12 hours.  What to do, what to do........  So we swam, we drove around, we took pictures, and then we finally headed to the stadium for the Tostito's Biggest Tailgate Party. It was a ton of fun.  Here are some of our pictures.

My boys!

Little football toss

Cause every cowboy rides a bull!

Hang on, bub!

It was like parting the red sea. Had to make room for the band to walk through the party to the stadium!

And here comes the band!

And to wrap up the mini band parade - Pistol Pete!

Beau got to give Pistol a high five!

Getting ready to go in!

We are in!

Excited boy!

Excited girl!

Here is proof.  We are here!

Channeling a little WWE wrestler poses

Go Cowboys!

This was his idea.  He loved the fire.

My boy.

 Okay.  Now I am going to stop this entry and start a new entry with pictures from the game.  This was getting too long.  And the game pictures were cool!

THE Game

And now we are inside the stadium.  Did I mention my new camera?  Totally worth hauling with us.  We got amazing pictures from really nose bleed seats. But we didn't mind.  It was The.Best.Time.Ever!

And two things kind of confuse me toward the end......1) it was such an emotional game, sometimes I remembered to take pictures and sometimes I didn't.  And 2) if you remember we thought we won the OT when we scored a touchdown.  So fans ran out on the field, only to be quickly pulled off because they reviewed the play and said our guy actually didn't make it in.  So I think we tried one more time for the touchdown, didn't get it, and then kicked a field goal. When the field goal went through the up rights, fans ran on the field again. Deja vu!  Then to add more complexity to this, everyone was standing up, so I wasn't able to get any pictures because I couldn't see over anyone (with my camera). I had to hand the camera to my tall husband, so he was snapping pictures, and I was just jumping up and down, hugging and high five'ing my new rows and rows of best Cowboy friends. So forgive me for not captioning all these pictures. I was drunk on a big COWBOY win!  Enjoy!

Um, do you see who I see?  Legendary former OSU golfer, Rickie Fowler!!

And in the background wearing jeans, former Stanford golfer, Tiger Woods!!  Both were serving as honoree captains for their alma mater.  SOOO COOL!

I think this was them leaving for halftime.

Our little kicker.  Please, please, make it!

We did it. We won!

Getting ready for the awards ceremony

The trophy 

Reflection on 2011

Finally, no pictures in this one.  Just my thoughts on 2011.

I usually do my recap of the year on New Years Day, but this year, I won’t have time.  Why, you might ask?  Well, Brian, Beau and I are headed to the Fiesta Bowl this year to watch my beloved Cowboys take on Stanford in their first BCS Bowl appearance.

We are very excited to make the trip.  And of course, I wouldn’t be me without being apprehensive and worried: apprehensive to leave my little B behind (even though she will be in great care of Me Ma and Pa Pa and the puppies, and probably never miss me – which I really truly hope she doesn’t), worried the weather will behave and flights stay on time, worried about my health (which let’s just keep brief and say…. has not been very well these days/weeks), worried about little B’s health (because she is battling a cold which invariably leads to ear infections with her), worried about spending money on a trip like this (even though it is already paid for). You know the usual……just worrying about things I can’t control.

I said in my New Year blog to start 2011 that I would stop being such a worrier and let things just happen…...stop relying on lists, live in the moment more, not feel guilty about taking time for myself…guess I didn’t do so well there because I am a planner that loves my lists, and always feels guilty if I am not doing something for someone else.  Oh well. Pretty sure I am just built this way.  It makes me feel good to be organized. It makes me feel good to make others happy.  And while I do take the time to get my nails done, or my hair fixed - I secretly like it a whole lot more when my little blond side kick is right by my side. Don't get me wrong - when I do have a quiet house - I do love it - but after 20 minutes, that passes, and I am ready for the kids and hubby to be home - where we are intended to be.

Okay, enough about me…….I did also hope that Brenley learned to wear big girl panties. CHECK.  I hoped that Beau would learn to ride his bike.  SEMI-CHECK.  He is much improved, but that innate desire and thrill to want to ride a bike and take off that almost all boys have – just isn’t there with him.  So this year, I hope for that spark to ignite with him.

I hoped that the babies in my life that would be born in 2011 (from family and friends) would be born healthy to healthy mommies. And while there were a few issues, I can certainly praise Him in making sure we did end up with healthy babies and healthy mommies.

So where does that take us for 2012...... 

This year, I hope that Brenley continues to amaze us with her intelligence, wit, charm, and stubbornness. This year will be one where she turns 4, begins preschool, and begins organized sporting activities.  And I need to get her into something that involves music, because she loves it.  Oh my goodness, it is going to be “fun” !  This little chickadee is so much like her mama, it scares me.  I shake my head at her fierce independence and extreme motivation to just do it herself.  And while I shake my head, my mother laughs. I am getting paid back in full.

And Beau, sweet, sweet Beau who has a heart that overflows with love…..

He really has come into his own this year.  From hitting the cover off the ball in baseball – both machine and kid pitch.  To being a great “Center” for his football team…..”HUDDLE! HUDDLE! HUDDLE!”  To now really understanding his position and loving the game of basketball.  He loves sports and we love watching him.  I hope he continues to have a fun year in Sports where he continues learning sportsmanship, team building and the game.

And school? He finished 2^nd grade strong and is having a tremendous 3^rd grade year.  He writes in cursive now (and does it well for a lefty).  He knows how to multiply up to 12 and once back to school next week, will wrap up his division tests and finish through 12 there also. He has the most reading count points in his class – he LOVES to read.  I can’t find enough books to keep up with him.  He just continues to amaze us. He is a great boy.  I hope 2012 keeps the bullies away, and he continues to make good friends and he finds more things that interest him and keep him challenged.

For my love, Brian, I wish for him continued patience to deal with us three (ha ha), a fulfilling career, and of course, all the love and happiness we can shower on him.

And for my family - from my parents to my siblings to all my in-laws to my nieces and nephews - I wish for them health, happiness, peace, love, and joy every day of the year.

Okay, that's all I've got. Stay tuned for a lot of ORANGE POWER pictures to come, and of course, all the events that make up our year for 2012.  Love to you all........

Few more Christmas faces

So I was looking back through the millions of Christmas pictures I snapped, and I realized there was a few more that I wanted to capture on the blog.  You see, at the end of this year (after today!), I'll make this blog into a keepsake book. So it's a perfect way to capture memories, and I want to make sure I document all the sweet faces in my life, because similar to this year......babies grow up too fast.

Enjoy these beauties......I sure do...

This is like looking at pictures of my brother when he was little.