Tradition

Tradition! Well at least that's what we are hoping to create here. Last year Steve took Damen to a Broncos game over in Denver. He has talked about it ever since and tried to plan which stadium they would go to next. Also since taking that trip Steve and Damen have set a goal of attending an NFL game in every stadium (31 stadiums 32 teams). Why do their goals seem to cost so much? Well a couple of months ago Damen wasn't feeling well (or so he convinced me) and ended up staying home from church. Steve stayed too and while we were gone they started planning their next trip. By the time I came home 3 hours later they had it all narrowed down to Florida, Indiana, or Arizona. Not only did they have that narrowed down but they realized that if they went to a preseason game tickets are only about $5 -15 instead of $100-200. I liked those prices better and I really liked Arizona distance. So that's what they did, I might not have a say in what their goals are but I think I had a little say in the distance this time. Too bad we have hit all the close stadiums and now all that are left are over 12 hour drives.

They took off Wednesday after school and drove down to Mesquite NV to stay the night and then drove onto Phoenix the next morning. I don't know what all the pictures are but there are some cute ones.




I do know that once they got there they had fun going swimming and playing around before they headed to the game on Thursday night but guess what they called me on the way to the game and told me they had forgotten the camera. That's the only reason I had sent it was to document the fact that they had gone to the game. Those were some of the best pictures last trip. Oh well maybe someday we will get all high tech and all and get a phone that has a camera in it, Steve seems to remember his phone, most of the time (not guaranteeing we will be high tech any time in the near future--just saying).

They had a good time, I watched some of the game on TV which we realized had about a 5-10 sec delay, they kept calling to see if I had seen this or that play (which I hadn't because I was watching a movie and I would have to stop it and turn it over to the game and let them know that I was watching it--see I'm not into it as much as they were). But it's not about me. See Damen couldn't stand the Broncos until he went to their game last year and they lost by like 50 + points. But now he's a fan. So he went to the game wearing his Broncos hat and fully intending to cheer for them. Seth was the opposite. He cheers for whatever team Damen doesn't cheer for. Well lets just say Damen started cheering along with Seth after the Cardinals had scored and the score was 20-0. By the end though the Broncos scored in the last 4 minutes of the game which took Damen back to being a Broncos fan again. They did have a great time and I'm glad we had points on the card to allow the boys to go and spend time with their Dad. They are making memories and starting Father Son traditions.

The next morning they got up bight and early and headed for home. They decided to go by way of Lake Powell so they stopped and took a few pictures while at the visitors center there.

So they are already planning next years trip. I guess BYU will by playing Notre Dame in Indiana so they think they will go to that game and then either go down to Indianapolis and see the Colts or go up to Michigan and see Green Bay Packers. I just might have to tag along for that one. I don't care if I go to a game or not I just think it would be fun to see a few church history sights along the way. We'll have to start saving our pennies now. Ready. Set. Save!

Damens Bronco Game

So after a week of planning out their trip Steve and Damen took off for Denver on Saturday afternoon (had to get all the ball games out of the way). They left in rainy weather, so they decided to take I-80 instead of 70, which ended up getting 2 ft of snow that night, nice choice. After driving till almost 11 they reached Cheyenne and stayed the night there. They called the next morning while I was trying to get the kids to ready for church and told me that they were eating breakfast. Damen said "I am eating pancakes, scrambled eggs, hot cocoa and bacon but it's the gross kind" (we eat turkey bacon at our house so he thinks real bacon is gross, what have we done to our kids, at least they're healthy-er). Come to find out later, the motel was supposed to have continental breakfast but when they went down to eat there were 2 loaves of bread and a toaster with butter sitting next to it. That was it and Damen was not about to settle for that!

They had about an hour and half to drive into Denver and they left shortly after breakfast. They got to the game 4 hrs early. They wandered the whole tail gate party and saw this decked out limo painted orange (Go Broncos!) That's some serious tailgaters there

We got home from church at 12:30 and got a phone call from Steve and Damen. They were already inside the Stadium sitting in their seats with 2 hrs before kickoff! I think they were a little excited

Can't you just see the excitement on his face!

They had great seats as you can see, and it looks like not too many people show up that early at least not in the stadium.

But being there that early you get to see everyone warming up and that part excited Damen

They watched the kickers and the quarterbacks

In fact here is Tim Tebow warming up, Damen was stoked about that!

During half time a pee-wee football team got to play a bunch of mascots they thought that was pretty fun to watch a lot better than the game itself.

See in the first 5 minutes of the game the Raiders scored 21 points. The final score 59-14 for the Raiders. They were sitting amongst a bunch of Raiders so finally started cheering for them! They left the game and drove on to Laramie and then the rest of the way home on Monday. There sure was a lot of driving involved but both of them had a great time. And a little boys dream was fulfilled. Thanks Nate and Andrea for not being able to go so we could get the tickets! Now how do you top birthdays like that? It looks like it's all down hill from here on out!