Football

Part I

PHS vs OHS, Friday Night Lights

We went to the Permian vs OHS game this month.  It is the first football game I've attended since last year.  I've been to A LOT of football games the past six years.  Parker and Tanner both played in Middle School.  Tanner played one year at Permian, and Parker played all four years at Permian.   

I missed watching Parker and his friends on the field but I didn't miss the actual game much.  Brian and Parker were a little disappointed in me.  (Parker expressed his hurt on our Monday missionary phone call.)

But back to the Permian game...  Aubrey had a volleyball game that night and each week she has to stay until every.single.team finishes playing.  (She plays first and there are three other Permian teams who play after.)  It's usually a bit annoying, but it's more frustrating when you have somewhere you want to be.  

She and I made it to the big football game after half time.  Brian and Tanner were already there.  The stadium was packed.  Friday night lights in Odessa is a big deal, especially when cross town rivalries play.  It was perfect weather, so that was awesome.  It was also fun to people watch and visit with Brian.  (Aubrey and Tanner were in the student section.)  And Permian won, of course.

Here are a few pictures.

Our view of the OHS crowd (above) and their view of us (below).

You might think Covid isn't a thing right now.  It is.  We still had a sold out stadium with over 19,000 there with no social distancing or masks.  I thought we might have a big uptick of cases, but we didn't.  Some parts of the country are still extremely shut down right now, but in west Texas we are pretty much just living our lives.  I'm glad.  (The majority of us are vaccinated and living our lives...but I am so glad we are able to be together.)

Part II

BYU vs Baylor

For Brian's b-day in August, we gave him tickets to the BYU game.  He, Tanner and Chris drove up to Waco.  Jeff, Sarah and Ruby Gwilliam flew out from Utah.  Bri was able to visit with them for a bit before the game started.

Brian said the stadium and view were super nice.  We were ranked #10 until Baylor beat us 24-38, ugh.  

Part III

ENMU vs UTPB

Parker's good friend Harper Terry is playing for a small school in New Mexico.  They played UTPB (The University of Texas Permain Basin)  It was so fun to see the amazing support from Park and Harp's friend group.  These kids drove and flew in from college to watch Harp hold the ball for the kicker and stand on the sidelines.  (Freshman year, back up QB)  Most of their parents came to the game as well.  There were some great chants like, "If you want to win, put Harper Terry in!"  They didn't work though.  We all had fun hanging out together.   

Back row: Reese (TCU), ?, Cole (Texas Tech), ?, Bethani (A&M), Harper (ENMU), Cooper (PHS), Austin (TCU), ?, Front row: Hailey (Texas) & Kamryn (Texas)

Harp is number 11, facing the camera.

I loved supporting the Terry's and getting to visit with them.  I have to admit, when I saw all of Park's friends, it was hard.  When I hugged Cole and Austin, I started tearing up, and I didn't want to let go.  It made my heart hurt just a bit more in missing my Parker Bryce.