The Life and Times of the Cannodes: January 2014

The Bowl game was on Dec 22nd and we had a great time with friends. We relaxed by the pool that night, had a good night's sleep and got up bright and early Sunday morning to head home. Why so early? We had a Big Birthday Boy in the House and had a party starting to get to!

Thankfully, our Kasey tradition is to have Lasagna for his birthday. That meant, we were off the hook for dinner and Gpa George was slaving away in the kitchen while we were driving home. We got home with a couple hours to spare and were ready by the time all of our guests arrived. Kasey even helped make the ranch dressing - this kid loves to cook!

We asked Kasey what his theme should be for his party and he stated emphatically that he wanted Batman! Interesting... I'm not sure you have ever seen Batman. We asked Kasey if he ever has and his answer was "yes, at Grandma's motor home!" Oh I see - ha. Ok, Batman it is!

Dinner was great as expected and this year, George made Two Lasagnas (beef and veggie). Don't tell anyone, but I think the veggie was the best one!

What is the one thing that will make a sick kid smile?? Presents of course! Wow, sure hope this kid really likes Batman!

What is a caped crusade party without masks? I must admit, they were for the three children in attendance, but no one seemed interested. Instead, the adults had fun - at least Karsten got in on the fun!

Since Kasey was still not feeling well, it was like pulling teeth to get him to smile... or even enjoy cake. But, we did get a few good pics of him blowing out his candles.

After the cake and presents... it was time to play with the toys!

Kasey got a hunting game from the Woodards and it was a hit with the adults and the kids! I especially love Mady's face when she is playing.

We also got to celebrate his actual Birthday that following day at Chuck E Cheese! It was nice to celebrate it as a family of four and just take time to focus on the kids having fun! Didn't hurt that Chuck E Cheese sports Leprino Cheese on their pizzas! I should also mention it was "PJ Day" at school on Kasey's birthday.

Happy Birthday, Little Man! We are so blessed. My favorite thing in 2013? Watching you share your precious "Lamby" with your brother so he has something "white" to bring for show and tell. Such a considerate little man you are turning into!

What do you do when your team is heading to a Bowl Game and it's being held in Albuquerque (a small 6 hour drive from home)? Well, you make last minute plans to attend of course! It didn't matter that we only had two weeks notice. We conjured up a great group of friends and hit the road.

One kid ready, the other ready to sleep

Don't these kiddos look excited?!?! Ok, well - Karsten does! We thought Kasey was just sleepy (we just woke them up from a nap at daycare). Come to find out, he was slowly creeping up a temperature. You will notice a trend that Kasey isn't in many of these pics. He is either sleeping in the truck or sleeping on the bench at the game. We have him in an occasional pic here and there, but as you can see... he is not his regular, happy Kasey.

Tailgating - Bowl style

The start of our tailgating included setting up corn hole game and heating up our jambalaya. it was a chilly and windy day, but not cold and for that we were thankful. We were also thankful for the great group that joined us for the drive from Colorado. We had our family, Jim, Kerry and her son, Dakotah. We even had a local stop by for a visit! We loved seeing Mike, even if it was briefly. We promised to stop by their house on the way home from the game to get a hug from Rita so at least we got to see them again later on.

Mike braving the wind to see how CSU tailgates

Did you know Santa is a Ram fan? He Sure is! We found him hanging out in the CSU alumni section of tailgating and sent our kiddos over for their Santa picture. Of course they had to tell him what they wanted for Christmas! Karsten exclaimed "A Book" and Kasey (not feeling well) said, "I don't know... a toy". Well, wouldn't you know it - Santa reached down in his bag and grabbed a book for Karsten and a dancing penguin toy for Kasey! Oh My! I absolutely love Karsten's face when he is showing off his book. That is his "I just asked for a book and Santa had it ready for me" face!

How did Santa know?

Here is a pic of our entire crew that tailgated with us. Scott and Elizabeth were dearly missed this trip, but their family came to join us!

The whole bowl tailgate crew

Inside the stadium, the real excitement began. We had great seats in the 8th row, right on the 30 Yard line. The seats were Packed and Everyone was so excited for a great game. Well, the game was exciting... that was for sure. We were never in the lead, but kept on their tail and had some great plays. Our offense used trick plays and our defense continued to strip the ball from the Washington State Cougars.

We got to know the people around us and there was a nice man in front of us who was a coach. He received a sideline pass! So, when it was offered... we didn't hesitate to enjoy that experience. We all took our turn on the sidelines enjoying the view of the game (and the cheerleaders). Kris even made it on TV during one of the exciting touchdown runs!

Karsten and Amy on the sidelines

Karsten and Kerry on the sidelines

Jim hanging out with the team on the sidelines

Kasey enjoying his view of the game (poor sick kiddo)

As you can see, Kasey pretty much stayed in this position the entire game. Cuddled up and sleeping under his blanket. The people around us didn't even know we had a second child with us! He did wake up near the end of the game and wanted to go on the field with Mommy. The first smile we saw from him all weekend! He LOVES being on the field!

Finally Kasey's sideline turn

Kris & of course Karsten (he really enjoyed it) on the sideline

As I stated, the game was pretty interesting the whole time. A lot of activity going on, but we weren't sure at one point if CSU could pull off the win. Let me rephrase - "Kris and Jim" weren't sure - Amy NEVER gave up on her team! The season began for the Rams with a slogan the team came up with to bring the entire town together "1TTD" (One Team; One Town; One Dream). They never stated what that dream was, but as we witnessed, it was definitely the dream of winning their bowl game. In the last three minutes, we were down, but not out. In that short amount of time, we witnessed a game-tying touchdown drive, a couple of bad calls by the refs, a two-point conversion, two fumbles and one last second field goal to win the game (48-45 Final)!!

Let the chaos begin

With that, CSU Fans stormed the field! Well, almost all of them. Amy stayed up in the stands with the little ones, trying to keep people from stepping on what only looked like a blanket but was really my precious Kasey snoozing up a storm! After the chaos was over, we all moved to the field to enjoy the atmosphere, meet a couple players (QB Greg Gius #11 and RB Kapri Bibbs #5) and to take a peak at the winning trophy!

The New Mexico Bowl handmade trophy

Dakotah and Kapri Bibbs

The post bowl tailgate crew

Wow!! What a Game and what a great group of Friends to cherish this moment with! Of course, we wish we could've had our whole Ram Crew present, but we were blessed with those who were able to join! On our way home from the game, the Cannode crew stopped over at a family friends house, Mike and Rita. We stayed with them Oct 2012 while attending the Balloon Fest and surprisingly, they were excited to see us again!

Amy, Karsten and Rita with Mike looking on

Mike, Kris and Karsten (Kasey laying on the couch - shocker)

After all was said and done - we had promised some pool time to the little guys and promised some yummy leftovers and beverages to the adults. We all spent the rest of the night talking about the game and creating more memories with our Ram Family!