Sugar Bowl Part 2

The day before the gamee, we were up and ready to do some shopping and have a little girls day before the parade that afternoon. 

We headed over to the mall, and found a few good sales! 

We had lunch in our room, and then we hit the streets for the parade. 

We found a great spot to hang out and catch beads! 

We were excited Nana was in town for the bowl! 

The girls and I hit up the gym a lot! I was working toward my 365 days of working out! 

The day of the game, I took Gretchen out for some 1:1 time; and of course we visited a book store. 

She bought a few books, we grabbed Subway and headed back to the hotel for lunch and to start getting ready for the game. 

We said goodbye to DJ and wished him luck. 

One quick family picture. 

A little game day outfit selfie. 

We were at the game and ready for a win! 

The girls had a blast with their friends. 

And we were able to get a quick picture with DJ before the game. 

Sadly, we didn't win. DJ flew home with the coach's right after the game, the girls and I headed out the next day. 

We had an incredible 2023 season. 

 

Sugar Bowl Part 1

Two days after Christmas, we were off to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl 

DJ flew out the day before, and we were on the official team plane. 

The girls received beads as soon as we landed! 

We settled in to our hotel room, and the next day, we headed to Jackson Square with a few other families. 

We ate beignets on the steps at Jackson Square. 

And the girls had pearl rings made at the French Market. 

The next day, the wives were off for some dueling pianos, umbrella decorating, and a parade! 

The bead throwing from the wagon was so much fun! We had lunch at Arnaud's and then we all went to the Carousel bar for espresso martinis

This group of ladies is so much fun! 

Later that night, we headed out for dinner and Megan really enjoyed her fried chicken! 

We drove by Tulane so Gretchen could get a glimpse of their campus

DJ and I ended the night in the hospitality suite. 

and had some fun in the photo booth! 

The next day, the wives were off on a tour of New Orleans houses in the Garden district. This was right up my alley, I love architecture and old houses. 

We had to wear protective shoe coverings in one of the houses. 

Some of the houses got in on the fun and decorated for each team. 

We ended our home tour with lunch at the zoo. 

We were able to go to Mardi Gras for world for a pre-game party! 

And ended the night with fireworks! 

 

It's Game Day Baby...... Sugar Bowl

New Years day, we were pumped and ready to cheer on our Longhorns. 

After spending the morning at the insectarium and resting a bit, we got dressed and rode the bus to the stadium. 

We had tickets to a pre-game party, which was a perfect way to spend time before the game. We ate and listened to the band. 

The girls each had a Shirley Temple from the bar. 

There was face painting, air brush tattoos, and a caricature artist. 

We even had King Cake and Beignets!

This girl had hearts painted on her face, and we all got some glitter :)

About an hour before the game, we started to make our way towards our seats. We were right in front of ESPNs broadcast.

DJ came down to meet us before the game; we wished him good luck one more time.

Can you spot Matthew McConaughey on the field?

Obviously, cell phone cameras don't zoom well, but my stepdad's camera sure does!

#swoon

We stood for the National Anthem and bands playing, while Adalyn asked Gee to hold her and within a few minutes, she was sound asleep and slept through the entire first half of the game! I'm not even sure how because it was SO loud!

Just two friends sharing a seat.

I didn't take any game day pictures. I was trying to save my cell phone battery as much as possible. At 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter, we headed down to the field to celebrate our victory. 

We took a quick friend photo in front of Bevo.

And then sat on the sidelines until the end of the game.

Oh hey there, Matthew. 

Too bad he didn't want to take a photo with his fans :(

The end of the game was chaos, there were so many people everywhere and I wasn't sure we would find DJ on the field, but when we did, it was pure joy. This is my favorite moment after every game. 

The girls instantly ran in to their daddy's arms congratulating him on the win.

This win, was big.

We didn't know what our life at Texas would look like, but we sure think it would look like this. 

We have loved being a part of several college football programs and we always try to jump in to the culture of the university and team as soon as possible. I think this helps make the transition so much easier if we just accept the new life, and it gives the girls something to be excited about and look forward to. So far, Adalyn is our biggest Texas fan, showing her horns to anyone that will look, and reminding everyone that OU sucks. 

The confetti canons erupted at the trophy presentation and everyone cheered. 

Some of that confetti found its way in to our pockets and came home with us.

One more scoreboard picture.

After the trophy presentation, the girls made confetti angels alongside football players and other coaches kids.

DJ's video staff always works so hard, and we've always been blessed with amazing individuals to work with.

This moment will never leave us.

He's not a coach, but he works hard for them. He makes sure they have game film to watch, conference calls are working, and will even get out of bed at 10:30 at night to answer their phone calls. 

I can't wait to see this trophy at the offices soon. 

At the end of the night, we found food, made our way to the bus, and back to the hotel. We finished a midnight dinner on the floor of the hotel after walking in to fans cheering and waiting to cheer more for this team. Eventually, I took the girls to bed, and DJ celebrated with other co-workers in the hospitality suite. 

Wednesday  morning we were up bright and early. We said our goodbyes to the family that came to support us and boarded the team plane for home.