Thanksgiving and State Championship Game

Over Thanksgiving weekend {I know, I'm a little behind}, we had a change in our family traditions. We usually go to my loving brother-in-law's house who has the best horseshoes tournament ever. This year, being a fireman, he had to work, and we didn't know what to do with ourselves. We did have a traditional dinner with the Celebrate Recovery group at our church, but the kiddos didn't find that satisfying at all.

We did get together on Friday with my family, but Justin and Emma had already left for Flagstaff for the Big Game. Being already thrown off my game {and that is the excuse I'm sticking with}, I didn't take any pictures of any of the Thanksgiving gatherings.

So on Saturday, bright and early, we drove up to Flagstaff to see the state championship game. This was the second year in a row that the kids' school was in the game {last year's game was a thriller!}

The game was already in progress when we got there.

Last year, I was texting Grammy the details in the last quarter. This year, Grammy and Pappy came to watch the game for themselves.

We had boys with special game hair.

Justin at work, helping out the team.

The school band

Emma and Rachel.

It was so hard to get a good shot inside. I have a lot of blurry pictures - you get to see the least of the blurry ones.

Why, yes. Yes they do.

The game was a good one. It came down to the wire as you can see. The opposing team decided to not punt on 4th and 2. Could we stop them?

I specifically took this picture thinking in my mind that this play was the turning point. The team had been behind all game and had just run an effective 2 minute drill, more effective than any drive all game. The team had momentum. Even after a failed onside kick, they held them 3 downs. And they held them here on this down.

We all expected them to march down the field with the remaining minute and a half to repeat.

Sadly, that was not what happened. The call on the field was 'fumble'. It was a controversial call, especially once they showed the replay on the big screen and you could plainly see that it wasn't. Needless to say, there was a lot of booing from our side of the stadium. There is a distinct possibility that I may have mentioned {rather loudly} some not so pleasant things about the ref's mother. I personally remember urging the ref to do the right thing. For 5 minutes. At the top of my lungs. I don't think my mom has ever seen me yell at the refs before.

{I don't think I've ever yelled at the refs before}

It was a very painful minute as they let the time run out. And then painful to watch the boys endure their disappointment. Of course, winning isn't everything, but what kind of consolation is that when your loss is unfair, when you didn't get the chance to lose on your own.

They went to pizza afterwards and there was a lot of consolation by the parents. And if there is anything good that comes out of a loss it is this. Consolation. Relationships. Love. But, I do think the adults in the room hurt more than the players. I know that I couldn't watch football on Sunday just in case there was an unfair call - I just couldn't bear that - and I'm not all that involved in the football program.

But, on a completely different topic altogether, I would have you know that I have been a little less than forthright with you, but it has been for a good cause. You see, ever since I showed you the finished product, I've been telling you that they are my mittens. I've mentioned it over and over and over again. I've been lullying you, dear reader, into thinking that they really were for me. Not that I really needed all of you to think that. I just needed one of you to think that...

And, over Thanksgiving, I was able to gift said reader with her new mittens, for her fingers are colder than mine.

So, thanks for playing along with me!

And no hard feelings, right?

So, we decided to come home the long way through Sedona, just to cheer ourselves up. What we didn't realize is that the weekend of Thanksgiving is when they start the Christmas light displays and there was a huge stop-n-go traffic jam coming into Sedona from Flagstaff.

Arg!

But, where else would you want to get stuck in a traffic jam but in Sedona?!

At one point in time, a woman from the car in front of us, jumped out and ran back to a car behind us. Pretty soon, she came back and got back into her car. About 10 minutes later, she was out of the car again, this time to get into the trunk. By this time, we are watching what she is doing. She pulls out a box of yummies, from Costco or something. Well, my darling decides he wants some and honks his horn after she gets into her car without sharing. The rest of us are laughing at his audacity until out she pops and walks over to our car...

... and shares with us!

Now, only the baby of the family gets away with things like this!

{And, yes, they were yummy}

We did finally get home and, amazingly, we did beat the kids home.

It's weird... people say they're not like apes.
Now how do you explain football then?
~ Mitch Hedberg