A Carmel Christmas

Our church hosted the third annual Carmel Christmas tonight.  We were so grateful the weather cooperated and we were able to continue with the outdoor smores pits.  There were so many yummy treats with cookies, pretzels, popcorn, hot chocolate and chips too. The festivities included silent disco, crafts, live music, a movie, games, a cake walk and oh so much more. It was such a fun night seeing so many familiar faces and visitors all having fun celebrating Christma together.  Preston did make an appearance but then left quickly to go to a birthday party so it was just the two of us . . . a feeling we are starting to have to get used to.

 

PHS Soccer Banquet

Tonight the school soccer team wrapped up the season with an awards night and dinner.  It was a fun evening celebrating two conference championship teams. The JV team was actually undefeated the entire season.  Preston is pictured with his coach, Omar.  Thankful for a fun season of team building and skill development. ;)

November in a Nutshell

 Gracious, I'm so far behind with updating this blog . . . I'll just recap all of November in one post.  Honestly, it was just a big blur anyway. LOL

Savannah and Caroline went to Anderson to visit Lily and Anna Kate.  I love that these girls are still friends, despite being at different colleges!  They had a blast and enjoyed their time together.

We decided to have some fun at Activate as a family the day before Thanksgiving.  It was a blast as usual, although it was Savannah who injured herself this time.

One of Savannah's favorite holiday traditions is packing shoeboxes at Operation Christmas Child.  We grabbed CFA for dinner to take with us and had a family outing to pack boxes on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  No clue why I have zero pictures from Thanksgiving in Mebane at Denny's house, but we had a fun time!

We made a last-minute decision to do Christmas cards this year and called Ms. Lou to help!  Her camera was broken, but we made do with her cell phone and got some pictures good enough to use.

As a fun adventure (after the torture of getting outfits together, freezing outside with bare legs, and trying to get a few good smiles) we went to Nellie's for dinner.  It's the Jonas brothers' restaurant in Belmont, so it was a bit of a drive, but well worth it, especially since Dave had a mystery shop there!

Picture at dinner

After a VERY full day, we still wanted to get started with the Christmas decorations before Savannah had to go back to school, so I drug everything out, and we at least got the upstairs tree done . . . despite the shannagans of one younger child.  So now we are headed into an insanely busy December!

PHS JV Men's Soccer Conference Champs

Preston was beyond elated to finally be cleared to return to play tonight!  It was the biggest game of the season, against their rival school AK.  Due to the rain all week, we had to play at a neutral site (that had a turf field) instead of our home field, but the boys still pulled out a win.  They won 5-0 to finish the season undefeated!  And not only that, but no more than one goal was scored on them in any single game.  Preston loved being a part of this super talented team!!

The weather was absolutely miserable, cold and windy, with multiple sudden downpours, but we wouldn't have missed this game for anything!  

 

We Needed a Smile

 

It's been a ROUGH few weeks around here with Preston trying to get back to "normal" and dealing with on and off headaches from his soccer whiplash/concussion injury.  He sees the school trainer daily for reevaluation, but the reentry to play just keeps getting pushed back  . . . and add to that, he has added stress from school, work, and flight, which isn't helping the brain injury.  He has also been missing practice/games with his new club team.  

So we have all sort of been in a funk.  It was such a blessing and nice change of pace for Savannah to come home for Fall break (although her original plan was to go to Wilmington with friends, she chose to come see her brother play soccer, but that sort of didn't happen).  So when the kids decided to go to McDonald's for the sole purpose of collecting monopoly pieces, I sent them on a quick errand to get a pumpkin.  This is what they sent me on the way home.  LOL  Just a little smile we all needed!

Dad & Teresa ~ A Beautiful Barn Wedding

Today was a day we have waited for awhile . . . and I honestly can't believe it really happened!!  My dad got MARRIED!!!  Now I love a good wedding, but I just wasn't sure what kind of emotions I would feel seeing my dad get married to Teresa.  BUT, it was the sweetest thing to see him so very happy.  We arrived super early (like right when Teresa told us to be there, but before my dad even showed up LOL) and enjoyed some time with my brother and his family before the pictures started.

Everything was so beautiful.  The ceremony was short and sweet, the band was fantastic, and the food was wonderful!  It was such a blessing to see all of the friends and family that really mean the most to my dad and Teresa.

Here's the shocker . . . when they began their first dance, Dave and I quickly realized it was the same song that we danced to for our first dance!!

Did I mention the food was crazy good?!? And the desserts were YUMMM!!

It was a chilly day, but Savannah and I found a comfy spot by the fire and enjoyed watching everyone have a blast! It was so good to catch up with friends and family we haven't seen in a hot minute too.

It was such a fun, sweet day to celebrate together.  I'm so thankful Dad now has someone to make him happy and keep him in line!  They seem to be a good fit and we approve!

 

UNC vs. Clemson Game!

Sometimes the best things in life are those that just sort of happen last-minute.  We had been so undecided about this weekend's football game at UNC.  Dave had been talking about going, but we just never made it a priority to get tickets, and of course, there were no great student deals.  BUT, we ended up finding pretty good seats on a resale website and made it happen.  The original plan was to just drive up for the game and then come right back to Charlotte, but that turned into a bit more.  We first had to take a side detour to pick up a futon I finally found for Savannah's dorm (in Greensboro).  She had thought about getting it weeks ago, but we were afraid that it wouldn't fit in her car, so instead we decided to grab it on our way to Chapel Hill.   It was a bit rushed trying to navigate parking and get the futon unloaded in her dorm, all before the game, but we made it just in time for kick off!  The boys wore orange and were thrilled with the outcome of the game.  Savannah and I wore blue and were one of the few left wearing blue after half time. However, that did enable us to move to the other side of the stadium to some shaded vacant seats. :) What a disaster for UNC!

Savannah mentioned that she wanted us to go to the preview basketball game that started an hour after the football game ended. Again, we were a bit torn. I knew she and Dave really wanted to go, but also that Preston was ready to head home. We ended up driving all around trying to relocate the car and finally settled on a deck to park in and walked to the basketball game.  It was a short preview of the upcoming season, which will hopefully be better than football.  Then we all headed to dinner at Chipotle and dropped her back off at the dorm to head home.  It was a VERY long day, but we all ended up having a blast together.

And just for fun, a picture of our dodo, who couldn't wait to eat a roll until after washing his hands, so decided to eat like this at Texas Roadhouse on Friday night.  Oh brother . . .