BAY-LOR, baylor bears fight!

this past weekend we headed down to waco for one of my most favorite weekends of the fall- baylor homecoming!! it was a jam-packed weekend full of fun events, friends, and family.

mark and i were honored to start the weekend, on thursday, with an invitation to a "fancy-shamancy" dinner honoring our dear friend, katie. she received the "young alumnus of the year" award for her and ben's work they are doing in haiti. it was a really beautiful evening complete with incredible decorations, lovely dinner, a video tribute, and award presentation.

the beautifully set tables.

mark, me, katie, and ben

friday we spent the day just hanging out with the herridges (our favorite waco residents). that evening it was time to head to the bonfire. this has become such a fun event for our whole family to attend. in years past, it was just a pep rally and bonfire, but now it is so much more. this year my favorite was the book signing for a new children's book, B is for Baylor. it is a darling book about the traditions of baylor, so of course we had to get one!! :)

there was a cute bear that looked like the bear in the book that jack posed with.

after the the band, cheerleaders, hearing from the coach, and the captains of the team it was time to light the bonfire. it was windy this year so it got really big really fast!!

saturday morning is the parade. my husband would probably like me to mention that it is the "largest collage homecoming parade in the nation." it really is very fun!! we got to see katie again on her float. we also had some other favorites...

bruiser!!
the baylor bear balloon
and jack LOVED the BIG basketball balloon

and my favorite part is getting to watch the kids sit on the front row watching the parade march by and catching all the candy being thrown at them. :)

grant,o, abby, jack, kk

when the parade is over we went to take a closer look at all the floats and then tried to get a few family pictures with the beautiful backdrop of the rose garden and pat neff...

my baylor lovin' bowlin/fifer family

game time!! but first we must tailgate at the greatest BU tailgate ever!! yummy food prepared by this guy...

steve-o and his custom BU grill!!

and the chance to visit with dear friends...

some of my sweet baylor friends- kandy, baby sophie, me, kristy, ashley

it was a rainy afternoon that included a rain delay at the game and some very tired kiddos, so the kids and i headed back to the hotel for a little rest before the rest of the evening's activities. mark, christman, and danny all stayed and cheered on the bears to a homecoming victory!!! yay!! we ended our homecoming this year with pigskin. it is very hard to explain but basically a show with 8 organizations that perform an 8 minute mini-musical. it is so great!! we took the kids this year (minus jack) and they loved it. so did i!

the weekend is over, we are all exhausted, but won't trade all the memories we made for anything. sic em bears!!