Christmas Card 2008

We are sending Christmas Cards and are gladly accepting Christmas Cards but. . . . we have a problem. Amy was going to send Christmas cards early so that everyone would have our address. I WILL get on the ball. 2009 is the year of great organization and the end of procrastination. Procrastination ends - organization begins! But, that doesn't solve this problem. If anyone still reads this blog. You WILL get a card. But please send us one soon, we are very very lonely.

Hinckleys

2143 Rockcliffe Loop

College Station TX 77845.

Here is our pic for our card that is coming. And by the way, I am not trying to hitchhike. That is a gesture down here meaning "gig'em" for Texas A&M. I don't know why we do that or what is really means. But that was my best explanation. Anyway, Merry Christmas, and gig-em!

What were you for Halloween?

Texas experience: Trunk r Treat. Where Texan Mormon kids can see their Mormon friends in costume at the church. Because, unlike Utah, they can't see them living right next door. I got to hand out the candy this year. Can you spot me?

Jaylen decided to draw her costume/character from the local landscape. She was a Texas Hillbilly. I'm just kidding we haven't seen any Texas Hillbillies. . .well hardly. I am just kidding. I'm really going to get kicked out of this state.

Kate decided to go completely out of character and be a Princess/Queen. When she visited the Rennaissance Festival this week she picked up a pink mask to complete the costume and instantly became Princess On Her Way To A Masquerade Ball. What a gorgeous gal!

Sadly we have no pics of Connor. He went to a band Halloween party as Sexy Thing #1 and a friend went as, you guessed it, Sexy Thing #2. This coming from a crazy offshoot of Dr. Seuss. I really would have liked to see the costume. He must have looked completely different from himself.

Hinckley Halloween

We barely got the pumpkin carving in. We ended up buying and carving the pumpkins on the day before Halloween (Thursday). We had fun and Connor still was willing to carve with us. I don't know how long that will last. But he's a pretty good kid so we might be lucky enough to have him always willing to be with his family. If you will notice Connor is not wearing any BRACES! He got them off the day before. It has been a total of 2 whole years that he has worn those. He got them put on Halloween day two years prior and we definitely celebrated this milestone.

A Texas learning experience: The Halloween pumpkins were carved on Thursday. On Sunday (only two days later) Jaylen pulled the lid off one and the whole entire pumpkin was full of white fluffy mold. It looked like a spider's den. The other two looked exactly the same way. Ain't humidity grand!!!

Texas Football

Last week I was fortunate enough to spend three days on the campus of the University of Texas. I toured their facilities and spent most of my time in the new suites built in the north end zone. This weekend I was able to watch the Miami Hurricanes play Texas A&M at Kyle Field in College Station, TX. If those five days aren't football heaven I'm not sure what is. To go along with the photos here are some interesting facts.

University of Texas = 48,000 students
Texas A&M University = 48,000 students

Royal Stadium = Seats 97,000
Kyle Field = Seats 82,000

Between the two schools they have 5 national championships and 3 Heisman Trophies. The Longhorn football facility was simply amazing. The video board is the second largest in the world...talk about your big screen TV.




Godzilatron






When the elevator doors close you see the logo and the fight song plays while you ride.





This display shows which teams drafted all the Texas players that have played in the NFL



Me giving the Gig 'Em sign in Mack Brown's office




Earl Campbell's Heisman trophy




Darrell K Royal- Texas Memorial Stadium






TEXAS A&M FOOTBALL


The Corps of Cadets marches before the game.




The view from the President's box. It's more fun in the stands




The Mascot, Reveille, runs loose in the President's box during the game.

More Home Pictures

We love having a bigger table for all to sit around without sharing eating space. The bigger table is also for all the guests we will have staying with us. Hint Hint. We also have Connor's room, Jaylen's room and the hallway (kid's study area).

Starting to Look More Like a Home

We have actually got all the furniture in the right place (I hope.) Really Shane hopes we have got it in the right place because he is tired of moving it. Oh well, these are important decisions. Now comes the part where we have to start making holes in the walls and make things more permanent. I dread putting up pictures because I never feel I am putting them in a place Martha Stewart would approve. Please comment with advice. If you see an empty wall tell me what needs to go there. Shane and Connor love having a TV on the wall. I have to admit I like watching TV while I am slaving away in the kitchen. But I'm afraid we lost any hopes of looking like intellectuals that abhor TV watching. Oh well. Kate was my official model. See if you can spot Hank in any pictures. Instead of Where's Waldo it's Where's Hank.

Another Week in Texas

Well the first week of school is over. The weekend included Connor's first marching band performance in Round Rock, A trip to Houston for soccer games, watching the Utes win on TV and seeing Texas A&M lose in person. A few of the pictures are from Kyle Field. It truly is one of the places you must experience if you are a college football fan. Connor might look like an Aggie fan but he just wore the colors so we wouldn't be killed wearing our Ute red to the game. The other pictures show Amy and Jaylen washing Hank, Kate doing Karaoke on the tramp to Hannah Montana and Jaylen at a soccer game.

Time to Breathe?

It has been absolutely nuts! I would love to post more often but it seems I never have time. This might be a little long but I'll try to catch everyone up to speed.

Hot, Hot, Hot and more Hot! It saps your energy, makes you stay inside, keeps your AC on max in the car all the time. You always sweat, want something to drink, and complain about the heat. I'm sure that will excite many of the people who SAY they want to visit.

We moved into the house just fine. Amy and the kids unloaded over 350 boxes in about two weeks. It took Shane five weeks to unload 8 boxes. The highlight of our move in was the four inch scorpion that crawled out of the master bath drain.

Getting ready for school has been a chore. Amy has registered our three kids for school six times. That includes the three times they lost or messed up our paperwork. Jaylen has PE this year and had to have a white shirt and maroon shorts. Of course everyone else knew this but the Hinckleys. When we went to the five stores in town that carry athletic shorts, guess what? No maroon! We finally found a pair of women's shorts in the return rack at the campus bookstore and saved the day at the last minute. There are more rules down here than you can shake a stick at. They say the TEXAS PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE every morning and then the regular pledge of alegiance. The younger kids don't get to leave school when the bell sounds. They must line up in the "pick up" or "walking" lines and then proceed orderly out of school. The kids all say "Yes Mam or Yes Sir". They all look you in the eye when you speak to them as well. After dealing with the Utah kids for the past nine years, it is a little unnerving when a 5 year old looks you straight in the eye, listens to everything you say and then answers you in clear and precise sentences ending with Mam or Sir.

Connor's life is hetic. A typical day for him is as follows

5:45 am - get up, get ready for the day
6:30 am - leave for marching band or seminary
7:45 am - Arrive at school do last minute homework
8:20 am - Start School
3:45 pm - School is out, go to unsupervised basketball practice (Informal but required by coach)
5:30 pm - Arrive home, grab a bite
6:00 pm - Arrive at church for seminary home study (due to missing class because of band,)attends evening band practice or has trombone lessons depending on the day
7:00 pm - Attend Youth Church Night, pick up basketball with the school team or still at band practice depending on the night
8:30 - 9:00 pm - Arrive home, complete 2 - 3 hours of homework
11:30 pm - In bed and start all over again.

On top of all that Connor is on Student Council, Does WEEKLY fundraisers to pay for band expenses, Attends Texas A&M football games and performs at High School football games.

Amy runs around trying to coordinate three kids and three different schools, soccer, piano lessons, and all the things a Mom does to create a wonderful home.

I just show up and do what I'm told (hahaha don't kill me Amy).

Overall the kids miss their extended family and friends something fierce. We read your blogs, hope for e-mails, and generally comfort each other knowing that we have people who love us all over the country. I've posted a few pictures but they are not of any special significance to the blog. Just stuff that the family did while they were in transition between Utah and Texas over the summer.

Amarillo and Six Flags

We stopped in Amarillo, our old digs, and saw our old house that Connor and Jaylen lived in. The next day we headed off to Six Flags over Texas. We had an awesome time but it sure was hot. We rode every roller coaster known to man, and then did it again. No one was scared and we went several times. The TITAN is AWESOME. You have to ride it to understand. I've never been that scared or had as much fun as I did on that roller coaster. When we were hot, we would go to a ride called Aquaman. The video shows a walkway where we could stand while the ride came hurtling down an incline and created this huge wave. Connor shot the video while Jaylen, Kate and Dad got soaked.

Grand Canyon Update

We took the family through the Grand Canyon on the way from Utah to Texas. What an experience! One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. It was a lot of fun to be with the family again after several weeks of the bachelor life. We had a great day hiking and exploring and hiking and hiking. Dad complained the whole way while Kate wanted to keep going forever.

Texas BBQ

One of the "benefits" of moving to Texas is the BBQ. Now BBQ in Utah usually means putting some KRAFT BBQ suace on the chicken breast you cooked on the grill. Down south BBQ takes on a whole different meaning.

Texas Monthly publishes their top 50 BBQ spots once a year and last week, the list came out. Number one on the list was a small place (4,000 pop) in Lexington, TX called Snow's BBQ. They are only open on Saturday so you have to get there early. We left at 9 in the morning and drove 75 minutes to Lexington from College Station. The line was already out the door at 10:30 in the morning. We waited 30 minutes in line and were next when the owner came up and said, "That's it, we're all sold out today." Our disappointment was high but there was nothing we could do.

Looking at the list of top BBQ places, we noticed that the Town of Taylor was only 30 minutes away. Louie Mueller's BBQ was number 5 on the list. We were hungry, had invested 2 hours of our time and decided another 30 minutes would be worth it. We arrive in Taylor (pop 10,000) and found this old, run down store front with a line coming out the door. We pulled in, waited 30 minutes and we're rewarded with some of the best tasting BBQ I'd ever eaten in my life.

The photos tell the story. Pay attention to the "Man Plate" that had 1/2 lbs brisket, 1 regular sausage, 1 chipolte sausage, slice of cheese and two pieces of bread.