24-HR JAYHAWK WHIRLWIND!

2008 National Champions!
I know some of you may be sick of all of the Jayhawk talk - but we have to add our own story of this great whirlwind of a time.
We're so excited that our KANSAS JAYHAWKS won the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. Chris and I are both KU Grads and have been waiting for this moment, especially Chris.
All day Monday, we were on pins and needles, awaiting the championship game against Memphis. Chris hardly ate all day long.

The game was awesome - a nail biter for sure. We definitely thought we had given the game away when we were down by 9 with 2 minutes to go. Needless to say, we were thrilled when we won. We let Ava get up and watch the end of the game.

Chris was the most excited, running out into the street yelling at the top of his lungs in celebration for his team. We've had so many great seasons with disappointing post-seasons. FINALLY - this one is ours!

Celebrating after the big win

We had to go out and celebrate - so we woke Elise up, bundled both our kids, and headed out. We drove to campus, Chris waving our Jayhawk flag out the window. Chris got lots of people honking and hollering when we drove by waving our flag - lots of people wanted to give him high-fives too - kind of funny - but hey - everyone was just so excited. Chris got out and walked down MASS St. for some extra celebrating while I drove around with the kids. We're so glad we got to experience the Hawks winning while we're still so close.
On Tuesday, we headed to Memorial Stadium to celebrate the team's return to town. Here we are doing the Park and Ride to the Stadium (which proved to be a great idea on the way there - but took a long time to get back after the celebration - oh well - we stayed positive).
At the stadium. We made sure to bring our earplugs and candy and marshmallows to keep the kids happy while we waited. Elise cried and cried when everyone cheered - but eventually fell asleep on my chest.
It's estimated that over 25,000 fans welcomed the Jayhawks home.
Walking into the stadium, a reporter spotted Chris & Ava and asked to interview Chris. So, if you caught the 4 o'clock Channel 5 news, you saw them on TV!!! My brother recorded it - so we look forward to watching it.

Another awesome thing was that we saw one of our all-time favorite players, Wayne Simeon, First-Team All American. Although he wasn't part of this championship team, we enjoyed watching him during his years at KU. Ava had a fun playing around with the flag and our friends, the Arnolds, while waiting for the "Jayhawk bus".

What an exciting 24 hours! We're slowing coming down off our high - but have made some great memories to cherish for a lifetime!