Anniversaries and Football

Doug and I celebrated our 15th anniversary the day after Christmas.

Yes, we got married on December 26th.

If you already know the story why, skip down...

So, why did we get married the day after Christmas?

Simple... Texas High School Football!

It was the era of Art Briles at Stephenville High School and Doug and I were both teachers there. When we got engaged in June of 1998 and were discussing wedding plans, my dad said that he had missed one state game for me (had to pick me up from the airport after I had been in England for a semester of college..) and he didn't want to miss another.

 So, even though it was JUNE... we went and reserved the church for the Saturday AFTER the state game... the day after Christmas!

Turns out to have been a pretty smart call.

We won state that year.

Doug and I joke that we should have just gotten married at half-time at Cowboy Stadium on the star! Our friends, some family and our students were there!

I'm guessing only in the great state of Texas do people plan weddings around a high school football game... especially when they don't even have a family member in the game!

Anyway...

To commemorate our anniversary, Doug got me a watch. Not just any watch, but a Coach watch to match my purse! He said that since my purse was a reminder of my weight loss journey, the matching watch would be a reminder of our love and life together. 

That's romantic stuff.

I was equally romantic.... I got Doug a garage door opener. Ouch. Good thing he doesn't love me for my romantic gestures! 

(Hey, but I did do a romantic gift last year... remember the wedding dress photo shoot?)

So Friday night we got a babysitter and spent the night in Fort Worth. It's so nice to get a way once in a while!! Here we are at Taverna, a really awesome Italian restaurant in Sundance Square (downtown). It was soo good!

We have aged a bit.. but we are still looking good and enjoy each other's company! Not bad for 15 years!!

Parade of Champions

Football State Champions!! Stephenville High School won their division on Friday night at Cowboy Stadium. It was an incredible game and the Jackets even set a state record in scoring!! The final score was 70-35!!

 

Below is a video of highlights of the game and then Coach Gillespie (the head coach) is recorded speaking to the boys immediately after the game. It is worth watching!! I'm sure some people won't appreciate his viewpoint, but thankfully around here, what he said is considered powerful and appropriate!

 

After you watch the video, come back here and take a look at my pictures from the Parade of Champions!!

 

 

Thanks for coming back... :)

 

Saturday morning after a very late night, we had a parade to celebrate the winning of the state game.  I realize that in the narrow definition of the words "we won" it would only include the team and the coaches, but in our community "we won" means about 10k people. And while I don't have any sons that will ever play football, I am wholeheartedly invested in my students. So... therefore I say WE WON!!! and mean it! Being an avid YellowJacket football fan is hard work!

 

Okay.. back to the parade. Here we are waiting for the parade. I had already purchased state champion tshirts for the whole family!! Kylie had a brand new shirt to show off as well! (love that it is a generic "go jackets" shirt as she can wear it for basketball and baseball too!!)

 



 

The girls were a little cantankerous. They had all spent the night with their grandmother and were out of sorts. Once the parade started though they were happy to wave and cheer.

 

The parade included police cars, fire trucks, the band, the colorguard, the cheerleaders, the players, the coaches and even Santa and Mrs. Clause!

 



 

 

Sorry the pictures are so small. Blogger hates me. I can't resize pictures from home on my laptop. So, if I think about it tomorrow at school, I'll resize the pictures!

And for all of you out there who wonder what living in a small town is like, well there is a glimpse into our world!!

Heart of Gold: David vs Goliath

The Heart of Gold Game

I can't remember what I've told the blog world about The Heart of Gold Game, so I'll recap.

Our local high school has a really good football team with an fan base that is quite large. A few years ago the team decided to honor a child that had a special need or health issue by designating one home game of the season as their Heart of Gold game. Tshirts are sold with the child's name on the back and the entire team and coaching staff wear the shirts. The community buys the shirts as a fundraiser and then the family is given a monetary gift.

Our family has supported this in the past and I know last year's recipient family. I would have NEVER guessed or dreamed that we would be such a family. 

But a couple of weeks ago the head coach called Doug and asked him if we would be willing/interested in Maddie being this years recipient. So after drying the tears, we asked Maddie and she said okay. She didn't really get how big this was.

Fast forward to this past weekend.

Maddie went to the Breakfast with Champions with the Varsity football players, then was honored at the pep rally, then spoke on the local radio station at the Coffee with Coach.

That was the warm up.

When we got the the stadium, it was electric. It didn't hurt that the game was against our big rival. It's a David vs Goliath match up with us being David. The Head Coach had told me earlier in the week that he really, really wanted to win for Maddie. But we weren't predicted to win.

So as it nears game time, imagine a stadium full of people and tons of them are wearing a shirt that supports your kid. I really struggled to keep it together.

Maddie ran out with the team, in fact, the Head Coach ran with her. It was wonderful as Maddie had been really worried about being the last one on the field when she heard that she would be running with the team. For a kid that is always last in gym class, is the last picked for a team and is the last one finished with anything athletic, this was really worrying Maddie. So, I shared this concern with the coach, and he turned something scary into something special!

Here they are running in. 

Here is Maddie with the Head Coach. They are getting ready to go out for the coin toss. Isn't this picture crazy. It's taken with the same camera at the same time as the other pictures, but the spotlight on Maddie and Coach is incredible!

Maddie was the Honorary Captain and she called the coin toss.

Here we are leaving the field. Don't you just love Kylie's pig tails!!

And the game starts!!

During the game, Doug and Maddie spent a lot of time on the sideline. But she still made time to play with Cousins!

Even Kylie and Lexi got turns to go on the sideline.

Don't you just love this picture of Kylie and her Cousin!! Sweet.

 

After the game.. It was incredible. We beat our Goliath.  Head Coach ran down the sideline waving our flag and hooting and hollering. It was such a memorable time.  And to be standing on the sideline. One of my highlights.

Then Head Coach got the team together and did his speech.  It was so fun to hear him. These boys had done something special and he praised them all. Then he called Maddie over and gave her the game ball! Oh yeah, I was teary!

 

And we finished the evening with a team picture. Complete with Maddie in the center.

 

 

The entire experience was one our family with never forget. The monetary gift to Maddie will be placed in a trust for her future medical expenses. Our prayer is that it will never have to be touched. But is sure is nice to know that we have it available for her care.

Living in a small town, there are trade offs. We don't have a lot of the amenities that others have.. but the community love of each other is better than any fancy restaurant!

Oh how blessed we are to live in the Ville.

It’s all about the BLING!!

 

Yes, she’s just that cute.

I went to the store for just a Jacket t-shirt for Kylie.  I left with the bling-ed out onesie!!!

How could I resist?