Sunday, September 13, 2009

Our trip to TEXAS!

WOW!  Time really flies!  I think its been over a month since I have even been on here!  I could have blamed it on our little Texas puppy.  A couple weeks after we got him, he chewed through my mac book charging cord. (All the joys that come with a new puppy).  But that was over a month ago as well, so I really blame myself for my own blogging laziness.  I made a goal when we moved away to be a good blogger, and let people know what we've been up to. Needless to say.... I haven't been so great at that goal.  I recently made another goal... "be better at you goals"... And so... the time has finally come to blog. We have been having an awesome summer! 
      We just got back from Texas with Gabe's family and we had the greatest time! We flew down to Dallas, Texas to watch Gabe's little brother play football.  Roman plays football at Bingham Highschool in Utah and his other little brother Matt coaches.  Bingham is ranked number one in the state right now and got invited to play a Texas team in the brand new Dallas Cowboy's stadium.  Needless to say, we were not going to miss out on this one. We flew in on Friday afternoon and Roman didn't play until Monday, so we didn't waste any time.... we got right down to FUN business!  We headed straight to the Stock Yards in Fort Worth.
  Honestly this place was Awesome!  It was EXACTLY what I wanted Texas to be like.  It looked like the scene from an old western movie.  And every body had their boots on.  I was in Heaven.  I told Gabe that I wanted to move there and that these were my people.  He didn't go for that. For some reason he didn't want to live in a tourist attraction.  Anywho... we got some dinner, best steak in the west...not kidding.  I'm pretty sure they killed the cow in the kitchen and then put it on my plate.   It was delicious.  We then headed to the rodeo.  It was so fun!  Here we all are, waiting for the rodeo to begin... 
The next morning we did our research and found Lavon Lake in Wyley Texas.  "Best kept secret in Texas", they called it... so true.  We rented a boat for the day and wake boarded on the "best water in the nation".  There were really only about 4 boats on the lake so the water was pretty smooth the whole day. 
Once we got wake boarding out of our system, we spent the rest of the day gripping white knuckled on the death mobile.... or the tube as most like to call it.  It was definately not a leisurely stroll through the lake, and thats exactly the way we like it! It was so fun and every one got a good ride!
We spent that night watching the BYU game and enjoying a good chicken dinner at Gabe's parents hotel.  I choose not to post pictures of that event because I choose not to support BYU.  Just so that is clear.  We only watched to see Gabe's neighbor play.  Just so that is clear. (but i am glad they won... only by one point... its good for the conference... just so that is clear....)
And the next day we rested... not really.
We spent the next day touring around dallas with Gabe's parents.  We took a tour of the Texas Rangers' Baseball stadium.
Here's to you Mr. Robinson...
Putting Sammy Sosa into the 600 club.
I just couldn't help myself....
Just hanging out in the Ranger's dug out
Gabe had great seats right next to THE George W.
Its just something about those baseball uniforms... I just can't resist
The day finally came!... GAME DAY!!!! It was so awesome.  We got up early and got all decked out in Bingham Gear.  I did graduate from Olympus and I do hold a special place for the Titans in my heart... but while Roman is playing football at Bingham... I call myself a born-again-miner fan. It's catchy.  Anywho... We made our way to the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
 This place was unbelievable.  Not only was it huge, it was huge and posh and awesome and huge!  We got there as early as we could and were the first in line to run in and get our great seats.  Gabe was in absolute heaven.  We sat on the front row on the fifty yard line... in the cushy seats.  It doesn't get better than that for a football fan.
And of course I could not pass up the opportunity to wear my cowboy boots in the cowboy stadium.  
We had a great time cheering on Bingham!  They unfortunately did not come out with a victory.  But they did play their hearts out and did a great job. 
Roman did an awesome job!  It was so cool to see him up there on that huge jumbo tron and hear his name announced over the loud speakers!  Good Job Romeo!!! You played great!!!
It was definately a proud day to be a Valenzuela!  I got to wear this Bingham Jersey.  #31 was Gabe's old number and now Roman wears it.
Goofin' off a bit in the Cowboy's store...
After the game we followed the team so that we could get a pic with our all star!

The next day before we flew out, we spent the morning at the JFK memorial.  It was really cool to be there and talk with a guy who claims... He was there.  He told us his story and showed us all of his pictures of the fateful day on Elm street.  It was actually pretty neat. 
Our trip finally came to an end and we made our way back to the airport.  
To Roman (Ramon), Matt, Sarah, Marc and Janice, and my wonderful husband Gabe....
Thanks for the memories! We loved it!