we'll fling our green and gold afar...

** i am a little behind in my blogging due to the events of last week.**

at baylor homecoming 08. it was so much fun. the bonfire, the ferris wheel, little girls in cheerleading outfits, the longest homecoming parade in the nation, the football game, time with my bowlin family, quality time with college friends, and of course the familiar faces that i only get to see when i return to baylor's campus. i love it all!!! oh, i forgot to mention cute little boys in football jerseys or baylor colors. jack looked pretty stinkin' cute in his green and gold.

the tradition began about 20 years ago for mark when he was teeny tiny, but just 10 years ago for me when i was a baylor student. some things have changed over the years, but i love baylor and i love that we are passing on the tradition to our children and sharing that with mark's family.

the weekend began with trick or treating in a historic waco neighborhood. it was so neat because all the homeowners were sitting on their front porch passing out candy and their were kids everyhwere. we trick or treated with our cousins (of course!) and our college friends, brad and mary and their little boy, grant.

grant the sheriff, olivia the monkey, jack the banan, abby as sleeping beauty, and kingsley the blue ballerina posing before the candy collection begins

our little family

after our trick or treating adventure we headed for a quick bite to eat at a waco landmark, health camp. don't let the name fool you, it is a burger place that has been in waco for at least 60 years. we ate some greasy burgers, tots, drank some Imperial dr. pepper (the original formula) then headed to the bonfire.

so yummy, yet so bad for me!! i love it when i have to decide between big red or imperial dr. pepper!! i picked dp this time.

the baylor bonfire is not enormous, it is more about the experience then its size. it takes place in the heart of baylor's campus. this year we stood in the really long line to ride the ferris wheel. mark and olivia got on the ride just as they were lighting the fire so they had a really neat view. jack and i watched from down below.

waiting in the really long line. at least we got a cute picture out of the deal. oh and i guess these 2 got a ride too!!

here is the mighty baylor bonfire!!

saturday morning began bright and early as we walked back to campus to find "our spot" to watch the parade. (we have been sitting in the same general vacinity for several years now.) the kids loved the floats and the CANDY!!! my favorite was the real mascot, joy. she is so cute. after the parade we always go and take family pictures by judge baylor. we managed to get a few good ones even though our 3 year old was trying to spoil the fun.

mark has pictures like this from his childhood going to baylor events with his cousins.

joy, the real baylor bear. isn't she cute??

b and pop with their baylor lovin' grandkids (minus KK, she was not interested in pictures at this moment)

tailgating was next! we ate some super yummy hot dogs and visited with good friends. we have been tailgating together for 5 years now since leaving college. thanks to kristy, steve, kandy, and chris for organizing each year.

sweet college friends

the game ended up being really fun. you know as baylor fans when you are playing the 14th ranked team you don't set the bar high, but we played a good game. no we didn't win, but there were moments that i thought we might pull it out.

the girls enjoying their big red and baylor popcorn. this was a tradition that started at the beginning of the season with olivia and pop.

saturday night mark's family headed to pigskin (a tradition we were sad to miss out on this year, not enough tickets. :() and we went to dinner with friends. it was great to have time to just sit and catch up. sunday morning we went to bosqueville baptist church were our good friend, brad, is the pastor. he delievered a great message and mark even sang the "special music." a quick lunch with brad and then we were northbound on 35 toward dallas.

it was a great weekend. to me it is the perfect balance of tradition, family time, and catching up with friends. here's to another great year. look for pretty much the same post next year at this time as we once again go to waco to show our baylor pride at homecoming 09.