Waco, Texas!!! Part One!

Well readers, I took matters into my own hands and took the pictures from Brian's computer and copied them onto mine. Ha ha. Brian has been pretty busy with work and all and I've got lots of free time! I've divided our trip to Texas into 2 parts since there was so much. Here you go.

Thursday October 1st:

We arrived in Waco and spent the afternoon relaxing and talking with Brian's parents. They are great! That evening Brian and I went to a high school football game (Brian's old high school to be exact) to see his nephew Jacob (14) march in the band. Since the high school is getting a new stadium, the game was played at Baylor's stadium. I got to meet Brian's sister Andi, brother-in-law Mark, nephew Jackson (10), and niece Averie (4). It was a warm evening with lots of lightening in the atmosphere. As the first half of the game ended and the band was ready to march onto the field an announcement was made that a storm was approaching and that the band would not be performing and that everyone needed to take cover under the stands. It was a torrential downpour! It was crazy. It poured for a good 30-45 minutes and thankfully we stayed dry until it was over. Since the band wasn't going to play we left disappointed that we didn't get to see Jacob play. Also, I'm pretty sad we didn't take any pictures at all this day!

Friday October 2nd:

Well, Friday we completely took advantage of being on vacation and did pretty much nothing all day. I had brought some books so I read quite a bit. I convinced Brian to take a walk outside his parent's neighborhood so we could get some fresh air. Texas is really pretty and I love the beautiful brick style homes. Friday evening the family got together to celebrate Jackson's 10th Birthday which was earlier in the week. He was patient and wanted to wait for his uncle "Bo" to be there. "Bo" is a nickname Brian has gone by since childhood and I was funny for me to hear his family call him that. I am all about the nicknames though. :)

Here's Jackson (and Averie) with his cookie cake. It sure was yummy! After the fun celebration Jackson stayed for a sleepover. He is a huge fan of board games so we decided to play Monopoly. Umm, bad idea! Brian and I got schooled in the game by a 10 year old! Jackson was quite the "wheeler and dealer". It was a fun night.

Saturday October 3rd:

We woke up Saturday to a rainy day. We were supposed to go to Jackson's soccer game but it was cancelled due to the weather. We hung out at home and I got to look through some old photo albums! Yay, Brian as a little boy! It was fun to see pictures! Brian's family had gotten us tickets to the Baylor University football game. Brian went to Baylor so we were excited to go cheer for his alma matter (plus, I like Baylor because it rhymes with Taylor! ha ha). I was a little worried that the weather wasn't going to be good, but when we left the house it wasn't raining.

Here we are in our cool Baylor shirts that Brian's mom got us! And look, we're dry!

As we drove to the game it started pouring! Brian's parents gave us some rain ponchos that they had so we could stay somewhat dry. Boy, did we need them! We parked the car and I was not thrilled at the fact that we were going to get soaked, so we waited a few minutes and the rain slowed down. We then headed into the stadium.

Here I am modeling the latest fashion trend...the rain poncho! I pull it off, right? I was so grateful to have that because it kept us dry during that first half.



Here's a shot from the game. Baylor was ready to score a touchdown!

Here's the stadium! Because of the weather, there were not too many people there, but we all still cheered for the Bears!

Here's a cute picture of Brian and I. All smiles, so I guess the rain wasn't too bad!

At halftime the Baylor band performed. It was fun to dance and stretch a bit.

The best part was that Baylor won! It was a great game even with the not so perfect first half weather. We went home pretty tired, plus we had a big day planned for Sunday, so we needed all the rest we could get!

Sunday October 4th:

Today was Dallas day! We drove up to Dallas to visit with lots of people. First we met up with Brian's aunt Ann. It had been several years since Brian had seen his aunt, so we were really lucky she happened to be in Dallas. We spent some time letting the 2 of them catch up and it was great that I got to meet her. After chatting with Ann we headed over to Brian's best friend's house. I got to meet Josh, his wife Joanna, and their 2 kids Andrew and Grant. We spent lots of time talking and also went to lunch at this great Tex-Mex place called La Hacienda Ranch. It was yummy. Brian and Josh both got these queso smothered fajitas that looked pretty tasty. It was fun to spend time with Josh, Joanna, and their family.

After lunch, Brian and I hoped to make a visit to Texas Stadium where our Cowboys play! We made it in time for the final tour of the day. Yes they give tours, and yes it isn't cheap! Please enjoy the pictures from our tour. I'm not going to comment on them all.

Okay, so maybe a few comments...they took the turf out because U2 was going to be performing there next and things needed to be changed for their big set up. I was sad to not see the field.

Umm, can we say GINORMOUS screen???? I think we can! It's massive!

Yay! Tony Romo and Jason Witten's lockers! I love them both, although I tend to favor Jason's consistency in the game more than Tony's. he he :)

This is the Cowboys entrance to the field, hence Brian looking like he's running out that way. Love it!

My "original" boys (the reason why I'm a Cowboys fan): Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Emmit Smith! Can you see their names, or is it too small? Sorry! (you can always click on the picture to make it bigger...I think)

Here's all the turf...hidden in this room until they're ready to put it back out.

It was so fun getting to see where my team plays! Now if they could just possibly lower ticket prices so that Brian and I could go see a game sometime would be nice. :)

After touring the stadium we went to see my sister. Courtney lives in Dallas and she invited us over for dinner at her boyfriend David's place. It was my first time meeting David and so I was excited.

Here's Courtney and David with our delicious dinner spread! It was so much fun seeing my sister and spending time with her. We ate, talked, and watched football. What could be better than that?

I hope you all have enjoyed the first half of our vacation in Texas. The rest is on it's way!