Welcome Football Season

We really love football season around our house. I think Ryan has been counting down the days for awhile now. We started off football season with a preseason NFL game. We had never been to an NFL game and since the Redskins played the Ravens on a Saturday, we figured it was a perfect time to go. We went with some of our friends and it was great times and it was especially great to see the Utah and BYU alumni that play on the Ravens and the Redskins.

Before the game watching warmups

Most of the group

Pitta (played for BYU) and Reed (played for Utah) are
now playing together for the Ravens. See, it can happen folks.
Kruger from Utah also plays on the Ravens

We watched Utah's opening game against Pitt with some of our friends and I felt such joy in my heart to see my Utes again after a year absence. Our U of U flag is proudly hanging in one of our windows and we are very excited for this season. No pictures of Utah games yet, but there will surely be some in the future. Go Utes!

On Monday night, we returned to FedEx Field, the Redskins stadium, to watch Boise State play Virginia Tech. Since I work for an Idaho Congressman, I have become a bit of a Boise State fan (Ryan does not agree with my sentiments). But, I am only a little bit of a BSU fan because my heart really belongs to Utah. But, we knew that this would be an awesome game since both teams are so highly ranked. It did not disappoint at all!

Our fun friends, Darcee & Jeremy joined us for the game. We went to a tailgate before the game and enjoyed great food and the company of Idahoans.

Before the game started, we watched the warmups and the BSU cheerleaders were giving out some very cool hats.

Are you all jealous? You should be. Who doesn't want a hat in the shape of a potato?

The game was amazing and we were so glad to be there.

The Virginia Tech band was awesome and they made cool shapes,
here they are making the shape of Virginia

There were around 86,000 people at the game...awesome.

It got really cold though and we were up high in the stadium. I forgot to bring a jacket but Darc and I improvised with the very cool hats we got before the game. Not only are they fashionable, but very useful. I really liked clapping with them on my hands.

Here we are after the game. Ryan was sad that Virginia Tech
lost but the rest of us were happy that BSU won

Football season is a great time of year and we are so happy it is here. Welcome and Go Utes!

Texas

I decided that since I had time off in August that I should use some of it to make a trip to see Megs in Texas. I mean let's be honest, I love Texas and Texas loves me. So off I went to College Station, Texas, aka the hottest place ever. I always thought that DC compared to Texas in the summer...what was I thinking? That place is ridiculously hot and humid and DC is nothing compared to College Station. BUT, I loved it. I loved seeing Meg, Andrew and Henry (and Justin just a little bit since he is pretty busy becoming more educated). And, I loved eating ice cream and a lot of treats because that is just what Meg and I do when we are together.

We tried to stay inside as much as possible but we did go on some fun adventures.

Adventure numero uno: Children's Museum in Waco. Andrew could not wait to go to the museum, he LOVES the children's museum in Utah so we figured we should check out the one in Waco. Wow, that place was impressive! There was a lego exhibit and then a lot of cool themed rooms. My favorites included a hallway that played music according to where you walked. So we ran zigzag down the hallway several times and struck dance poses throughout the hall. So we are crazy, oh well. Another favorite was the water and bubbles room where I could have stayed all day. Below is a video of my favorite thing: water is coming out of this plastic thing and when you put your finger over a hole, it plays a tune.







Adventure numero dos: Hullaballo Diner. Anyone else addicted to the Food Network? I sure am. One of the show is Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and it just so happens that one of the places he went on the show is just a hop, skip and a jump away from Meg's house. We went there for breakfast on Saturday morning and whew, it was amazing. Diner food at its finest. My mouth is watering just thinking about that french toast and biscuits & gravy that we ordered. Yummo.

Adventure numero tres: Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory. Hello to heaven. I LOVE BLUE BELL ICE CREAM. Every time I go to Texas, that is what I want. Megan found out that there is a factory within an hour's drive of College Station so we went on a tour of the factory. The tour was pretty boring and the tour guide seemed annoyed that we had two little ones with us...whatever. But, at the end of the tour, we got a free scoop of ice cream. It was my chance to try the new flavor: Caramel Kettle Crunch. It has pieces of kettle corn popcorn in it and it was amazing. My favorite quote of the whole trip happened at the factory. Andrew was eating his ice cream and it was dripping down his hand and he said, in a very concerned voice, "what is happening to my hand???" I heart that little guy so much.

The rest of the time was spent watching a lot of Gilmore Girls, playing nerts and just hanging out and enjoying the fabulous time together. Thank you Meg, Justin, Andrew and Henry for letting me come hang out with you, I really like you guys a lot.