It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Running of the Balls:

This year we decided to add a new tradition to our Christmas festivities! We had driven through the Sunset neighborhood that has all the lit balls hanging from trees last year, and this year we decided to participate in their annual 5K.

This was Finley's first 5k race and it was the perfect one to do. It is super low key and relaxed. Not even a timed race. Racers dress up in all kinds of festive wear, they pass out hot chocolate instead of water, and you even get a cookie at the end! Plus along the route there are stages with bands playing Christmas music. Super fun!

Of course we talked our friend Carrie into racing with us. It is definitely more fun with friends! We ran into Finley's first grade teacher Ms. Anetrella and also a few other teachers from his school. 

The pictures really don't do it justice! It is so beautiful and colorful!

Finley also got to race with his best friend Jake! They were so cute they even held hands and ran together at one point. It helped Finley to have a friend and they pushed each other to keep going. 

Finley did a great job! He sprinted/ran almost the whole way! He only stopped 3 times to walk for a bit. Anytime his old teacher Ms. Anetrella came and tried to pass him, he would put on the jets and take the lead again! It was so funny! He ran about 3.5 miles in 45 minutes. Not too shabby!

I feel like next year we need to up our game with more festive outfits. It was so cold out there though! Thank goodness we were running to help warm us up!

We love Carries!

 Post race we were rewarded with hot chocolate and a warm meal. Poor Finley promptly passed out after eating. We were so proud of him! I think this will definitely be one of our new traditions!

Santa Sightings:

A few weeks ago we ran into Santa at Jason's Deli. He was nice enough to let us say hi and snap a picture with him. Even Santa's gotta eat!

Our neighborhood also had a breakfast with Santa at the club house. Finley enjoyed getting to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus! He made a list for Santa too, but forgot it at home. Luckily we can always mail it to him. 

Getting Ready:

I prefer to do most of my shopping online these days. And that means lots of fun packages in the mail. Our biggest haul was five packages in one day!

We also made our famous jalapeno pepper jelly to share with friends and family. I am pretty sure this was the biggest batch I have ever made! In total we had 30 jars of varying sizes. Phew! What a lot of work!

Gingerbread Houses:

We normally decorate a gingerbread house at Mimi and Pop Pop's over Thanksgiving weekend. This year we ran out of time so we ended up doing it while we were in the Thrill for David's work Christmas party. 

We always have so much fun eating, I mean decorating it!

Looks so good you could almost eat it!

Lights and Nativity:

For FHE one night we drove around and looked a pretty Christmas decorations and lights. We made our way back over to Sunset Hills and this time I took a little video. 

This did it a little more justice!

Then we headed over to Greensboro College where they have a huge Nativity set up. We let Finley narrate the Christmas story to us. 

He did great up until he got to the wise men. He told us that the wise men were sent by the bad King to assassinate baby Jesus. He almost nailed it. Almost. 

Just a few more days till Christmas! Presents are bought and almost all wrapped! We are looking forward to spending time with family and of course eating lots of delicious food. And in case you didn't get a Christmas Card from us, here is the photo we used this year: 

 Merry Christmas!!!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving seems so long ago! Now that I am done with classes for the semester (Woo Hoo!) I finally have time to catch up on some blogging! 

We were originally suppose to go to Utah to visit the Beans for Thanksgiving, but they are a moving target these days! They sold their house and are living in an apartment until they move to WA state in January. With not having much room for visitors we decided to postpone our trip out west until next year. That left us in Chapel Hill for Thanksgiving with the soccer team. 

My dad's soccer team finished strong this season making it to the final four of the NCAA tournament! We are super proud of how hard they worked and they definitely overachieved for the season. They were still in season over Thanksgiving break so as per usual we took over my Uncle Pete's restaurant and fed over 100 people!

It's always a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.

This is how Donovan and I felt about Auntie Michelle having to miss out. She wasn't able to come home for Thanksgiving because she had a show up in New York going on. We sure did miss her!

But we still tried to make the most of it!

Poor Finley man was a little sick over break so he was a bit down and out. And poor Grammie & Abuelo had to miss Thanksgiving too because they both had the flu! Hopefully we have gotten this crud out of the way for the season!

Marilou brought this amazing caramel cake from Sugarland bakery. It was to die for! And Nel one of my dad's former players surprised us and joined us for Thanksgiving! I use to work soccer camps with Nel and it was so great to see her and her family! And they are moving back to Raleigh this summer! Yay!

This is Finley ruining a potentially great family photo. 

Since Finley couldn't help out too much, he watched the parade and played games with Wendy and Zach. 

We really enjoyed getting to spend some time with family in Chapel Hill!

And of course we ate way too much delicious food!

These two crack me up!

Finley especially enjoyed playing with Uncle Donovan. Check out this cool shot I captured! 

Soccer camp reunion!

Here's the whole Dorrance/Harris clan that was there minus Uncle Michael. Where did he disappear to?

Donovan introduced Finley to World Cup on the Nintendo. Not nearly as fancy as FIFA 16, but still lots of fun!

On Friday night we all watched my dad's team play SCU on TV. Rizzo one of my besties from HS joined us and she might just be a good luck charm! We pulled out the win and were onto the final four! There is only one Carolina after all! Hootie WHO!!!

We had a great time in Chapel Hill, but sure missed Grammie & Abuelo. We have so much to be thankful for, but most of all our wonderful friends and family. We hope you had a great Thanksgiving too!

Charleston Gettaway!

A few weekends ago we decided to make a last minute trip to Charleston to watch my dad's team play in the ACC tournament. The tournament was originally supposed to be held in Cary, NC but thanks to our lovely Governor and HB2 it got moved last minute to Charleston. Luckily Charleston isn't too far away and one of my best friends from growing up lives there. 

We arrived just in time for the semi final game. Beth and Sean met us at the game and we were hooked up with VIP seating. We were playing Notre Dame so it was going to be a tough match. We ended up winning 2 - 1! I guess that means we have to spend the weekend in Charleston, darn! Beth and Sean were so nice to host us in their mansion. Saturday morning we woke up and headed to the farmer's market. We spied some cute firefighters and ate some delicious crepes!

We then headed over to the battery park right on the water to check out some guns and cannons. Finley loved hearing all about the pirates and things that happened during the war from Sean.  

Unfortunately it was super cold while we were out there! 

We walked around for a little bit and also checked out all the cool houses nearby. 

Charleston is just so beautiful! It's one of the few nice places in South Carolina. 

Saturday afternoon we were able to go and take my dad to visit my his cousin Mary and her mom Helen, my great Aunt. Helen hasn't been doing very well, so we ended up visiting her in the hospital as she was recovering from hip surgery. We were so glad that we had a chance to see them though! 

Later that day we met back up with Beth and Sean and went to this cool park beneath the big bridge. 

Finley was dying to play soccer so we all had a fun little pick up game while trying not to hurt one another. 

That afternoon Beth also had a very fun Christmas craft for Finley to make. Isn't she the best host ever? 

They made these adorable reindeer's out of the palm branches from the palm trees. 

We sure made a lot of them! Beth's brother Ryan was also in town for a wedding that weekend so we all went out to eat at this delicious BBQ joint. It was so good!

Sunday morning was a little warmer so we headed to a park near the stadium to play some more soccer. Ryan joined us too and we played another pick up game. 

We got to the stadium super early and were able to indulge in some free VIP food before the match. 

Unfortunately the team lost in PKs against FSU. We were so bummed because we totally out played them! I guess it just wasn't our week for PKs! We still had a blast on our getaway weekend and were so proud of our Tar Heels! Next, onto the NCAAs!