Friday Night in Texas

Well it is Friday night in Texas and that means FOOTBALL! And I must say for a family without one football player, the Taylor-Hunters are all over the field! Stephenville is serious about football. I mean serious! People talk of nothing else around town until the season is over. The whole community goes to the games. They have noise makers made of empty propane tanks with ball bearings inside that they shake, all game long! Some guys have three or four tanks welded together and it takes three people to shake it. Crrraaaaazzy! I go at half time to listen to the band, watch the flag runners and cheer the officiating team, and then I go home!

Kendall is the flute player in the very front point of the V. I know this because she told me she would be there, not because I recognized her! They all look alike.

That is Jerry you can see in that little group of guys across the field. He ran the chains! And very well I might add! No mistakes with downs. In Stephenville, that would be grounds for public flogging.

The big, blurry, white flag is Daniel. He ran fast and kept the flag flying, with his face painted in camo no less.

Dan is standing under the goal post somewhere. He should be the last one in the row! We played some HUGE 5A school and got beat but the flag running for Stephenville was fabulous. I think the other teams band was bigger than our football team.

Kendall is in there somewhere. The hat covers her hair (and messes up her bang!) so I can't tell for sure where.

One of these trumpet players is Brandon. Again, just pick one! He did great, no tripping or anything! At least I didn't see any of the trumpets trip or goof and that would include Brandon, right?

You can't truly say you have experienced Texas unless you have been to a high school football game. Texans have completely lost perspective. There are almost as many people watching practice as there are the games. No kidding. Me, I see the bigger picture, without the band to play the Fight Song and the flag runners to hoist the school flag and the chain gang to keep order, where would we be?

Catching up!

Well, I haven't blogged in a while so I'm going to try to give a brief wrap up of the end of the school year and summer. I'm not sure where the time went but it flew! They say that is a sign you are getting old, but I think that is myth!

Kendall ran spring track and did really well. I think she even surpised herself. You can't see it in the picture but she is making funny blowing noises. She heard somewhere that it helps you run faster. I think it makes the other runners think she is a little crazy so they give her plenty of space! The boys came to give her support and generally tease and harrass her.

Kendall says she took 1st in this race! Her mouth took second.


Carly came and brought the boys. Nik was mildly impressed.

Kendall was freaking out that we weren't going to color eggs at Easter. I told her she was too old! So we had Carly and the boys come. Zach colored A LOT of eggs. He let Kendall do a couple, but that was it!

Mason bought a new suit, combed his hair and went to the Prom with his friend Miranda. He looked really handsome! They went with a big group of friends. They all met at the Mayor's house and took pictures then went to dinner.

Mason graduated from Stephenville High School. He was 11th in his class and graduated with honors. It was a fun day. Grandparents came all the way from Utah and Idaho for graduation so we decided to have Mason ordained an Elder that Sunday! The day after this picture, Mason loaded up his car and headed to Mississippi to work for Apex with Steve. He was gone all summer, called occasionaly and didn't tell me the scary stuff. After some agonizing waiting, Mason recieved his mission call. However, it came to the house. So Steve arrainged a conference call with the family and we read Mason his call over the phone. I cried a little but not as much as Grandma Ogden. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Kendall spent a week at TCU band camp! She had a great time staying in the TCU dorms and going to band clinic everyday. Only a true band nerd would think that was fun! On the last day we all went over to Ft. Worth to the TCU auditorium and listened to the concert! It was looooong, but Kendall was by far the cutest one! She also spent the summer helping her friend Holiday and Holiday's mom run a sort of soup kitchen on wheels. I think it has been a good experience for her.

I tormented Dan into applying for jobs all over town. He tried but it was painful to watch. He hates social stuff. Much to Dan's relief, there just weren't any openings in town. So, I hired him. We spent the summer gutting the kitchen. It was alot of work. We took out all the bottom cabinets and counter tops, which ment we had to empty the contents of the kitchen on to the deck. We spent the summer eating out and occasionaly washed dishes in a bucket. At this point, all that is left is the floor. When it is done, Dan and I will post pictures. We are very proud!

Aleisha spent a portion of her summer in Spain doing study abraod with BYU! She had a great time. She took alot of pictures, ate alot of good food, and learned to speak Spanish like a Spainard! Yea! We all lived vicariously through her. In August, Jerry and I flew to Utah to watch Aleisha walk at BYU graduation. (There are pictures on Grandma Ogden's blog.) We are very proud. She has to take a couple more classes this semester so, she will officialy graduate in December. She is truly amazing! Kendall says Aleisha is a Rock Star! Yes, she is!

Well that's it in a nutshell!