Sunday, October 19

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR DADDY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY
 
For our Daddy's birthday this year, we took him to a Dallas Cowboys Game!!  Jeremy is a HUGE Cowboys fan!!  He has gone to some games before, but we have NEVER gone together as a family.  Of course (not our ENTIRE family was able to go) as our littlest one, baby Isaac stayed at home.  He is only 7 months old and just has not yet learned a true appreciation for crowds, hot dogs, sodas, and just the essence of "Game Day".  
(Isaac in his Cowboys attire for the game...at home)

GAME DAY
"Game Day".....I have learned over the years....."is a real thing".  It is a living organism that actually breathes.  It is sustained by nachos, chips, pizza, chili dogs and burgers....pretty much all that heartburn has to offer!!  It flourishes on the passion of it's fans.  For those 3 or so hours.....Game Day takes strangers and turns them into "old friends".....Friends with a bond that, in that moment, could easily be stronger than that of an actual family!!

(Preparing and loading up the truck the morning of the big game)
 (Nicholas expressing his Cowboy spirit)

(Savannah showing her spirit as well....a little bit of a color-leaking problem)
TAILGATING
"Tailgating" is also..."a real thing".  It is similarly sustained by heartburn, but paired with heavy smoke and the smell of charbroiling red meat.  It flourishes when a seemingly ordinary pick up truck, turns into a fully functioning outdoor kitchen...when fans enjoy all of the comforts of home, in a small parking spot.

When you tailgate, your new neighbors (your temporary best friends) are the people that drove the pick up trucks parked on either side of you, who kindly share a group of porta-potties in the distance.   Tailgating fans will sit outside together eating, playing games, telling old football stories as they re-celebrate past wins of their team.  Some fans tailgate for the ENTIRE game (never intending on going inside...I am thinking that our neighbors- pick up truck to the left of us, were those such people (never planning on going into the game), as they DID bring their big screen TV along. These die-hard tailgaters will be there even in terribly cold weather.  It is the living and breathing essence of the "Tailgating" excitement that keeps them warm!!
(My love/birthday boy and I tailgating....When Savannah snapped this pic, we were not ready, as neither of us were really smiling yet, but its the only pic with Jer and I together)

 OUR TAILGATE
I wanted to make sure that Jeremy had the total experience on his special day!!  I bought a parking pass in one of the tailgate lots and set up camp in a VERY small parking spot.....3 hours before the game even started!!  Jeremy was so excited about it, that his preparations for our tailgate alone, took at least 1 1/2 hours.
 (The kids set up our "Corn Hole" set while we tailgated...people would cheer for the kids as they walked by)

We played games and threw the football around, in our tiny parking space.  As our family played games and relaxed, we enjoyed the sounds of loud and joyful music coming from the other trucks in the parking lot, but muffled a bit by our "neighbor's" GENERATOR.....that he needed for his HUGE big-screen TV

(Daddy showing Nicholas how to hold the football for a successful pass)
(Nicholas throwing the football. "Passing... #82 Nicholas Lustig....Pass intended for......")
(None other than Savannah..."Pass completed to ALSO #82.....Savannah Lustig!")

Jeremy so happily drug out his portable grill, some kitchen utensils, and packed grocery bags full of game day foods, and coolers full of steaks, onions, cheese and sodas.  Jeremy made philly cheese steak sandwiches with a side of Au Jus for dipping!

 Ahh...the smell of grilled onions in the air)

The sandwhiches were delicious!
The set up and take down, took hours in itself, while the actual meal was only about 12 minutes long.
I guess that it's all part of the experience
 (forgot to get a picture of our Philly Steak Sandwiches before I started eating it...it was delicious)

GAME TIME
Into Cowboys Stadium we go....Sunglasses for all of the fans!
  (What a HUGE stadium)

I love Rascal Flatts!!  What a great day this is!!
Great seats!! We can see everything!!
(We decided to sit down in our seats early to watch the Cowboys warming up for the game)
(We all cheer on the Cowboys......and in the end....they won the game!! What a great birthday blessing!)

Thank you, Lord for our amazing Daddy!  The world has been greatly blessed because of him.  He is such a great husband and father! As the spiritual leader of our family,he is leading his wife (me) and his children closer to You.  Thank you for birthdays, when we can celebrate our Daddy in a special way....

We love you Daddy