Senior Bowl

When we found out that Kenjon was one of the handful of seniors EVER chosen from the University of Oregon football team to participate in the "Senior Bowl" we felt like we ought to invite the gang of friends that have supported him here in Eugene to watch his game together.

I threw together the kind of meal I'd most want to eat.  Minus the cole slaw (not a fan, but I thought it'd go well on the menu) - this is totally the sort of meal that would be among my "favorites". 

Drew and Kaela showed up last - they brought an AMAZING tasting pineapple to eat, that was passed around the table to snack on during the game.

While it was great to have someone to watch, I can't say the game was a whole lot more entertaining than what we've witnessed in year's past.  Without the "team" to root for - or much of an outcome to care about, it just loses its luster.  We were also really disappointed that Kenjon didn't get much playing time, and when he was in, the couple of passes thrown to him were very inaccurate and impossible to complete.  With all of the hype he's had in the practices leading up to the game, even the announcers were asking "Where's Kenjon Barner?".

I guess the coach must have heard that, as he was put in during the very last part of the game - and sure enough, scored a touchdown.   In fact, he had the most yards (and receptions) for the entire North Team.  I found this online, as they put Kenjon in the category of the three "winners" of the entire North/South team in terms of performance:

"Kenjon Barner: Barner only had three carries for 13 yards, but showed a lot of versatility catching the ball. The Oregon running back caught seven passes for 59 yards, including a late touchdown pass from Zac Dysert."

At halftime, I caught a glimpse of sunshine (oh so rare these days!), so I asked Mikayla if she wanted to join me playing a little bit of volleyball.  We were even kind of discreet, but sure enough, we had a following.  This delights me for so many reasons, 1) we're using the court, 2) we're using the volleyball net and proving it may even be the most fun activity on the court, 3) Mikayla held her own at 11 years old among all of the "adults" (and got some good practice time) - and finally.... 4) I was the one that initiated GAME PLAYING!!!

Nice block, Travis - too bad it's illegal when being done against a serve....cheater!

That's quite a vertical jump for Drew!!

We were originally playing "just for fun" with the girls and John on one team and the rest of the guys on the other team.   When we were playing without keeping score, we were smoking them.  But, as soon as it turned into a competition it wasn't as much fun, the guys seemed to find their talent and ended up beating us by just a couple of points in both games (half-time and post-game) we played.

I can't stand that pose on Brayden....had I seen the pic being taken I would have stopped it.

After the Senior Bowl, we flipped over to the Ducks vs. University of Washington basketball game.  Shockingly, our Oregon men's basketball team is ranked 16th in the nation - and will move up more after their win against the Huskies.  I'm not much of a basketball fan, but am definitely ready to jump on the bandwagon to support this team.

Folks mellowed out - and Whitley was the prime source of entertainment.  Heather was absolutely drawn in by Whitley's smiles and laughter.  It was clear as she fought with Jacob over who got to hold Whitley that she's a goner....just like me....totally enraptured by this amazing 5 1/2 month old baby.

Proof that Kaela was indeed part of the festivities - these pictures are all courtesy of her, so the least I could do was to snap a shot with her in it. 

There will be a few more pics that were taken after I'd downloaded her pics onto my computer.  After using/owning Apple computers for over ten years, for the first time tonight we realized that our laptops have memory card ports to directly download photos.  Are you kidding?  How easy is that....and how did we miss that over all of these years?

For sure, it was a very pleasant afternoon.  These folks make for WONDERFUL company - and the post game phone call from Kenjon that we put on speaker reminded us all again just how much he is and will be missed.