Great News From the Fair

I was nervous all day yesterday at work as I could hardly wait to finish the work day so we could go to the Exhibit Hall at the County Fair. Yesterday was the opening of the exhibits to the public and all of the ribbons and awards have been made. Following work at 4:15, Josie and I drove directly to the Fair and walked into the Hall and to the section where the cross stitch and other needle handiwork was displayed. I was delighted to see the ribbon on my piece that was the top prize - Best in Show:

That is six years in a row now that my Native American cross stitch entries have won the Division, and the fourth year that they have walked away with the top prize of  "Best of Show". I can rest easy again for another year.

Our final work day of the week is today - yeah! - and it is also Josie's birthday. We will do something special although we haven't yet decided. Once the work day ends today, we begin our three day weekend...

Still Undefeated

Our drive to Kalamazoo from Naperville was almost 3 hours. It was near 11 AM when we got to the campus store to buy some apparel and check out the new WMU Bronco goods. From there, we went to the tailgate party for the next several hours waiting for game time. The tailgating party has grown into a major gathering of all the players' parents and families. We took lots of pictures, some of which are below:

It was a heck of a party and Patty won the "peoples choice" award for her chili in the chili contest. It was the second consecutive year she won a prize for her chili. There were 9 contestants this year.

Following the tailgating party, we walked into the stadium for the game. The crowd was a lot bigger than the last time we were here. Of course, winning changes everything. Here is a shot of the crowd:

Below is the captains meeting at the middle of the field for the coin toss. Austin, one of the captains, is #23:

The game did not disappoint. Following are a couple shots of Austin during the game:

The Broncos won, 45-31 to remain undefeated and will surely move up in the national rankings from #20.

It was off to dinner with Austin and the family following the game:

What a terrific day and fantastic win for WMU. We see no reason why they shouldn't go the rest of the season undefeated. Talk has now started about bowl games and the real prize for WMU could be the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day. Wherever it is, we all plan to go. Go Broncos!!

We stayed in town last night and, following breakfast here at the hotel, will head home...