December Chapter 4 (actually Jan2 GAME DAY!)

GAME DAY ARRIVES!

Utah 31 Alabama 17

When we pulled up to the SUPER DOME it was thrilling to see all the Utah fans lining up to go inside. Utah had a FABULOUS fan showing!

The second best part of this game (second to rolling over the tide!) Was the pregame party they had for us. There was great live music, both the Bama band and Utah band came and pepped every one up. The girls had their caricatures drawn and our faces painted, airbrushed U tattoos, We were green screened onto the field (I hope to eventually scan those pics in) And a large open place for Jacob to dance, run, stomp, crawl and get all his energy out which eventually led to a nap in the 3rd quarter. He loved the cheerleaders and got some good flirting in with the Alabama squad. He enjoyed being the entertainment and he would do his little stomp dance.

As we walked in Alabama had all sorts of pennants and sweatbands, fingers, noise makers and I said to one of the Sugar Bowl members I was looking for ours. She sheepishly said they had spelled something wrong and were going to remove all of Alabamas so it would be fair. It ended up that they just put Utahs stuff out and everything had Uthes written on it. Check ebay, you may be able to get your own Uthes pennant


What an amazing atmosphere. Like nothing I have ever experienced!

Jay and his specialists. We will miss Louie!

Jay and his Tight Ends


After the game we returned to the hotel to a rockstar welcoming. It was the best thing the fans could have done for these players. Getting off the bus to this!

It was thrilling to see the fans show this kind of support for the team!

We had grand plans of celebrating the night away and started in the hospitality room but with the task of packing looming and an 8:00 departure we pooped out on our own party

Jacob was well rested and ready to go first thing. Jay watched him on the bell cart while every one was boarding the buses to go to the airport. I know I am biased, but he is the cutest little boy EVER!

A little benedryl later....

And they all lived happily ever after.

The end

Epilogue

Start saving all your pennies and make plans to join us for our next bowl adventure!

December Chapter 3

So this chapter is the chapter of little things. All the little things I don't want to forget. Like Dec 27, 2008 Our 11th anniversary celebrated at Bourbon House, a restaurant with the most charming french architecture and Parisian decor AND of course, amazing food. Jay ordered the Red fish with crab on top that just melted in your mouth. And I ordered a White fish on eggplant with artichokes grape tomatoes and a balsamic drizzle. It is rare for Jay and I to get to go out alone on our anniversary, but thanks to Carly, We enjoyed every minute of the night. Including our first of many eye opening walks down Bourbon Street.

Sunday we were able to visit a local branch for church. It was fun to listen to the speakers work football into their talks. And even more entertaining to listen to the EIGHT AND A HALF minute prayer that included the gratefulness of the "presence of out byu brethren" and many blessings for their strength, health, and success. You can read more about that here.

When we returned from the meeting we quickly got ready for the Saints vs. Panthers game. Very exciting for all who went on so many levels. Our first opportunity to see the "SUPER DOME", a chance for Jay to sit with 3 kids through an entire football game, seating ON THE SIDELINE!, getting to see MANY Utah alums playing for each team.

The saints mascot was caught taking so many pics with all of us Utes, he missed his appearance on the field as the game was starting..OOps!

Brian and Ashtyn. I can't say enough about this guy! He is the real deal, good guy. He never misses a chance to say hi or play around with any of my three monkeys. It will be fun to watch he career continue!

This is the view from our seats of the game. The next picture is the view from our seats of Alabama's seats at the VERY, VERY top. :) Yep, I am not completely sure why? I think one of the newest members of the coaching staff was a coach for the saints? But for whatever reason, we enjoyed every minute. (Even the very cold air conditioning)

One of the Panthers and Utah Alums is Stevonne Smith. Who has openly admitted on multiple occasions Jay was the only corner who could stop him. Practices were always a battle for the two of them. I love this picture of Alayna trying to get a shot of him.

Monday Dec 29th, We tried to go to the Zoo and ended up taking a long street car ride around New Orleans. Once we made it back to the hotel, we got in the car and found the zoo ourselves but since it was too late, and the zoo was about to close we found a yummy ice cream shop and headed back to the hotel.

Tuesday Dec 30th We made it to the zoo. The girls each took over 80 pictures of the animals which they plan to scrapbook.....?sometime?

Ashtyn, Alayna, Jacob and Carly were treated to 2 days of outings by the bowl that included the insectarium, aquarium, IMAX, black light mini golf, laser tag and parks. I will let Ashtyn post more on their activities. The Sugar Bowl did an amazing job taking care of the families.

December 31st was full of activities. Allstate had a tailgate party/fan fest for Utah with games photos countdowns....Here is Ashtyn kicking a field goal. Jay had just coached her up and with Louie watching she got the ball in the air, just a little shy of the uprights.

They had a replica trophy on display for photos, We started thinking and here is Jay from Utah and two women? and herd of kids Hmmm?

The allstate commercial photo set. It took me a minute to get? Then I remembered the commercials.

After the fanfest we took a River Boat Dinner tour. The kids loved the big wheel that turned and made the boat go. I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth of a ride it was. After all this fun we still had a few hours before the big ball dropped and the kids were so tired. Carly stayed with them in the hotel room and watched Beverly Hills Chiuaua ending just in time for them to see the fireworks over the river from the room. As for Jay and I .....

We had to kill some time before his family was going to arrive so we went to check out Harrah's. I forgot to take my I.D. which they were meticulously checking at the front door, but after a wink and a smile and telling them my b-date 3 times they let me in. Jay and I in back where we ran into one the saints players that played at Utah. After a few attempts at getting Jay to get on stage and dance we headed back to the French quarter for a New Years Eve trip down bourbon street.

Jay's family finally arrived just as we were heading out. It was crazy....(I will leave it at that)

BUT look who we ran into...Remember him from here? Utah's own Mr. Incredible!

Our First Wives outing was to Chef Paul Prudhommes Restaurant. When they said they were going to feed us the really meant it. We had an amazing dinner the night before at a place called Bon Tons (I thought it was the best of all of them). But this lunch included a book, seasoning, and tote with Chef Paul there to autograph. Of course I had to text Amy to see who he was, but exciting none the less!

The following day the "outing" for the wives was a 2nd line parade. Meaning a band and people dancing to their music. We were taken to Pat O'Brians a piano bar in the french quarter where these two ladies were playing and singing in a piano duel. The atmosphere was unreal. I have said before in my next life I will have a fantastic voice and will sing in a piano bar like this one. Sparkly dress and all! One of the Bowl Members is a pianist as well and played an amazing version of somewhere over the rainbow.

Some of the wives in our masks, boas and parade garb. The bowl told us that Alabama had been here before and knew what they were doing, so we should know to dress up with boas and such. When we showed up they were so excited and said we definitely beat Alabama in the representation AND as far as that goes we were the BEST EVER! Way to go Utah Pride!

This is the parade as we turned onto Bourbon Street. They gave us buckets and buckets of beads to throw. It was so fun.

At the Ute Fan pep rally in the Hotel the night before the game, Jacob said his first word! "Football!" He was so excited to see all the fans, band, cheerleaders, players, balloons etc and said football over and over and over. (Football was his first word, but he did bark and any and every animal. If you ask him where the dog is, he would bark, So his first sound was barking, but to Jays pleasure, Jacobs first word is FOOTBALL).



Pep Rally Pooped! At this point we were all ready for a good nights rest in preparation for the game so Carly and I put the kids to bed and watched House Bunny. Just what I needed after a crazy week of the big easy. Dumb mindless comedic relief.

Of course before we could turn in we hit the Blues Traveler Concert. It was late, I was tired and they didn't play any of my favorite songs, but I was amazed at their talent. Blues Traveler is amazingly talented and I enjoyed making our way to the front of the crowd for a picture.

December Chapter 2

As if there isn't enough to do in December with Christmas, Recruiting, Recitals, Shopping, Decorating, Traveling, Bowl preparation. Our insurance was offering NO COPAYS for preventative care until the 12/31/08. So while we were out to ice cream with friends I asked Dr. Ross if there was a chance to be seen before the end of the year. He had me come in the next day. After checking my entire body he took one mole approximately the size of this capitalized O. He told me the pigment is too dark so he was going to take it. Two stitches later I was back to the hustle and bustle of December. Two days later Dr. Ross (Better know as Jay's friend Ron) was on the phone with Jay at about 9:30pm. As they finish their conversation, he asked to talk to me and informed me that the mole they had take was in fact Melanoma. The worst of the skin cancers. The good news was they caught incredibly early. If a Melanoma mole is 1 millimeter deep they start to worry about it being in your lymphnoids. A scary place for cancer to go. Fortunately my mole was only .18mm deep and would have to have been almost 6 times larger to have that worry about my lymphnoids, BUT even though the sample they took showed they had cut it all out, they had to go back in and cut more out. By doing this they have a found a higher success rate. So a few days later we went in for surgery. Jay was able to come for almost the entire procedure. I was very proud to have been able to control my rocking to a minimum. Compared to the last time I had stitches and Jay had to hold me down, by the Dr's request. Unfortunately I did lose it that night after I showered and pass out on Jay. Hopefully by the time Jacob breaks a leg or needs stitches, I will not be such a wuss.

You can see in the picture they had to take A LOT. I think he said there were over 35 stitches. So now I have years of regular 4 month check ups and a yearly x ray to make sure it doesn't show up anywhere else.

BUT the purpose of this Chapter is to "invite" "encourage" "scare" everyone into getting checked and putting time on your side. I know a great Dr....

Dr. Rustin Ross
Salt Lake Clinic
Appts 535-8157

December Chapter 1

Once upon a time, a long time ago, (clear back in Dec 2008) There was a war to be won. One undefeated team awaited their fate. And on Dec 7 it was announced that the U of U would face the giants of Alabama on Jan 2, 2009 in the 75th annual Sugar Bowl.

The fearless leader of this underdog team was ready.....

The biggest, yet smallest cheerleaders were ready. BUT before they could embark on their journey, much was to be done.

Traditions must be fulfilled. After an unsuccessful attempt to visit the lights at Temple Square then attempting a substitution with the lights at Thanksgiving point we finally made it to temple square and saw all there was to be seen. Including 4 sets of missionaries questioning our little wandering fair maiden who had more than momentarily lost her way.

As the warriors prepared for the war on the horizon, scheming, planning and training. We, the fair maidens and little warrior made our own battle plan. Take a nanny!

As the short days seemed to grow longer and longer, we were blessed to take a break and celebrate the birth of our Savior. It was a PERFECT Christmas. Quiet Christmas eve with clam chowder in bread bowls, enjoyed by candlelight. The story of HIS birth. And the peaceful glow of a snow laden earth. When the sugarplums had stopped their dancing the fair maidens and little warrior awoke to full stockings and packages thoughtfully gifted.

You could almost hear good ol St. Nick smiling as each fair maiden squealed with delight and excitement. No other sound matches the perfect giddiness of a child on Christmas morning.

After all the paper, packaging, wrappers, twisty ties, plastic, batteries, and Blueberry French Toast Casserole, I sat down to read. One of my favorite gifts each year are the stories from my mother. I read in peace and quiet (the rest of the brood was in the basement playing video games) cover to cover reminiscing of the days gone by. Later we were entertained with "Bedtime Stories". Unfortunately for Big Warrior, little warrior won the battle the theater and only the Fair Maidens were able to enjoy the entire show.





With much anticipation for the impending war, there was a moment of relief found in an afternoon of sledding.

And as a perfect 3 day Christmas celebration ended all were satisfied and rejuvenated by the peace brought by the birth of our Savior.