That's a Wrap.

Football season 2022 has come to an end. We played our last game againist Baylor the day after Thanksgiving, and now we get ready for a bowl game. 

This game is always a litlte bittersweet. At the beginning of the season, I'm excited and ready for the season to begin, but I'm also excited and I count down to the weeks that it's over. And then it ends, and I find myself wanting a little more football. The games are fun. The atmosphere is fun. I know what our weekend plans will be. I can predict what life will be like during the season. And when it's over, it just takes us some time to get back in to a routine again. 

We headed to DJ's office about an hour before kick off to get settled. We stop for a family picture, grab some water, head to the bathroom, the girls mess with his students, and then it's game time. 

DJ's dad and stepmom came down for the game too! The girls headed to the meeting rooms to play with the other kids, and then the rest of us got settled in our seats. 

We made it out in time to see the senior video students on the field for senior day. 

Senior day makes me cry. Every single time. 

The students and players put so much work in to this program for 4 years and then it's gone. They're done. Definitely a bittersweet time. 

One last coin toss before the game starts. 

I took zero game pictures, but took some video instead. I was also afriad my phone would die. 

Post game we headed down to the field, gave DJ a big hug, and sang the Eyes of Texas together. It's always my favorite moment after a game. Then DJ heads back inside, and the girls play on the field

They tracked down a cheerleader for a picture. 

And Pops had to have his picture with her too! 

We went to see Bevo. Who was not in a good mood and had his back turned toward everyone! Ha! 

This girl has been great this season. She's been a huge help with the other coach's kids and with her sisters.

Megan ended her season with 30 yards of back walk overs on the field.

We headed back in and caught a glimpse of post game player interviews, and then headed to DJ's office to say bye to his students and wait around for traffic to clear out! 

And that's a wrap on the 22 season. 

 

Thanksgiving Time

Our Thanksgiving week was a good one. Every year Thanksgiving looks different for our family. Some years it's the 5 of us. Some years, we have family visit. Sometimes, we ship the girls off to grandparents and it's just DJ and I. Honestly, it all depends on the football season!

This year we had a home game. DJ's dad and stepmom made the trip down to Austin, so we all stayed in town and had a great big family Thanksgiving. 

The girls and I spent the weekend and Monday cleaning so the house would be in perfect shape for their grandparents. I was working in Adalyn's closet, looked over and saw her sprawled out on the bed, and she instantly looked like more than a 9 year old. 

DJ's parents arrived on Tuesday. We met up with DJ's family Tuesday night at a local Mexican food restaurant. Because Mexican food is the perfect way to kick off Thanksgiving week! 

On Wednesday, we had Thanksgiving lunch with the football team. The food was delicous!

Pops gave Adalyn a scooter ride, back to the car. 

One quick family picture before DJ went back to work and the rest of us went home to watch shows, play, bake, and hang out. 

Gretchen made the pumpkin pie while I worked on all of the other casseroles. 

Thanskgiving morning we made cinnamon rolls, watched the parade, and got ready to put the casseroles in the oven when.......

it wouldn't preheat. My oven literally stopped working and would not get hotter than 100.

I called DJ and thankfully he was on his way  home and he could save the day. We put everything on the grill and cooked it outside! 

While the chaos of cooking was going on, Gretchen was in her happy place with a book. 

We burned a little on the sides and bottom, but everything actually came out great despite the fiasco. I was stressed about it all turning out but kept telling myself we could laugh about this one day. 

Thankfully, I have an oven roaster so the turkey was cooked to perfection. 

We let the girls fight over the wish bone. 

All the kids got the dining room table and all of the adults sat around the living room! 

I didn't take a picture of our food until after we had dug in! I cooked all of my favorites- ha!

Green Bean Casserole

Cornbread Dressing

Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows

Broccoli Cheese Rice

We were so thankful to be together.....

one big family picture and then DJ had to get back to work! We spent the rest of the day watching football on TV.

A Weekend Around ATX

We had friends in town this past weekend and we had a blast showing them all of our favorite spots in Austin, and even exploring a few new ones! 

We literally had the best time. They flew down from Conneticut and literally just put their entire trip in to our hands (which gave me the worst anxiety) but it all worked out perfectly, despite the cold weather, and our hearts were all so full from the weekend. 

Friday night, I took zero pictures. I met them at their hotel around 5, we headed to University Co-Op. We had BBQ for dinner, and we toured around the football offices. It rained most of the day Friday, but by the time we headed out the rain had stopped. Praise Jesus. 

Saturday morning we headed to the 360 overlook bridge, and climbed up to the top. I was so afraid that it would be super muddy from the rain but it wasn't bad at all. The views were gorgeous as always. You can see the Colorado River, downtown Austin, and the Austin Country Club. 

See downtown way back there?

The hike to the top takes like 5 minutes, and then there's a trail that takes you along the ridge, so we walked it for a while, happened upon some scaffolding, climbed to the top of it and took in the scenes some more before heading back. 

We enjoyed lunch at Jack Allen's, and headed to the game for the rest of Saturday. 

Sunday morning we met up around 11, and headed to the Butter Half mural. I feel like Austin murals are a fun way to see town, take some cute pictures, and take in some of Austin's culture. 

Then we headed to the state capital. It's been a few years since the girls and I had been, but we talked about what happens in each room, learned some Texas history, and raced down the stairs. 

The girls had to climb around on the cannon. 

And take a picture of Adalyn shooting the cannon at Megan's head. 

We did handstands. 

Silly poses. 

Tossed around a football and then headed to S. Congress. 

Food was the first thing on our agenda as soon as we got to Congress. Typically there are food trucks, but those have been moved, so we grabbed a slice of pizza from Home Slice. 

We walked down to Jo's and grabbed a picture with another Austin mural. 

The girls and I grabbed hot chocolates, we listened to music, and then we headed to Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds- a classic Austin costume shop that is sadly going out of business at the end of the year, so I'm thankful we were able to go in and explore. 

We stopped at Allen's boots, tried on some hats and browsed the boots available.

Then we headed toward Zilker Park. 

The kids played, we saw Barton Springs and the pool, walked down by the river, played more, tossed the football and then headed to dinner at Matt's El Rancho. 

Our weekend was so fun. Austin has so much to do and explore and every time we get out we love it more and more. 

 

Some Texas Pre-Game Fun

I had promised the girls that we would take one game day toward the end of the season to take in all that UT has to offer on game day; it's a lot, it's so fun; it's crowded, and it's hot at the beginning of the season, so we tend to avoid it. But, we had friends in town last weekend for the game, and we were prepared to take it all in! 

Friday night we met up with my friends and headed to the University Co-Op so they could grab shirts. Adalyn kept pointing out all of the things she wanted for Christmas, and I couldn't help but fall in love with the McConaugh-Tree. 

After dinner, we took our friends to see the offices, and Adalyn had a blast in the players lounge. We also shot some basketball. 

Earlier in the day, DJ headed to the set of college game day. They've been on our campus 3 times in the past 2 years, and while it's so exciting, we've lost every game they've been at, so they can stay away and it will be fine with me. 

Saturday morning, these two were watching game day on TV before DJ had to leave for meetings. 

I got dressed in what I thought was warm clothes and we were ready to head out. 

We dropped bags, coats, and a kid off in DJ's office, walked through the office, and made it outside in time to see Bevo's parade on Bevo blvd. 

We were standing on the steps, and the band comes down and performs, so we had to move, but we had a front row seat to the band. 

Then we were off to explore and play games. First up, a football toss. 

Then it was photo booth time! The girls put on jersey's, chose their background and we were texted the coolest picture. 

Megan had to have a turn too, and chose the same background. 

And then we all had to take a big group picture! 

We pushed our way through the crowd and up to Smokey's Midway. First up was the Fun Slide, which wasn't much fun becuase you had to push yourself down. 

The guy working also separated Megan and Adalyn so we had to wait a bit longer for them to each have their turn. 

The girls tried their hand at the rock wall. Megan is on the far right. 

They through axes; Adalyn almost hit the bullseye on the first try! 

And they played a horse racing game, where you roll a ball up, and the hole corresponds with how fast your horse moves. Megan won a game and was thrilled. Adalyn lost and cried. 

We stopped and listened to about 5 seconds of the Third Eye Blind concert going on because the kids were cold. 

We made it in to the game to watch the pregame festivities, and parachuters flying down. It was dark, but each parachuter had a light on them so we could see them in the sky. Some landed right on the 50 yard line and others landed down the field. One guy we thought was going to end up in the crowd. 

This is literally the only other picture I have from the game. It wasn't a great game, but having friends in town made it so much fun!