What November Looked Like

Caroline had a volleyball game while Andrew and

I were having dinner with the stake presidency.

Natalie saved the day and drove Care Bear to her game.

She had some fun fans watching. :)

My favorite twin toddlers turned 1!

They had a baby shark-themed party.

These cuties!

Caroline hung out with the tweens at the party.

   

Natalie and David and Finley are amazing

for surviving the first year! 

So happy I could be along for the ride.

Me and my cute girls.

Yummy Japanese dinner

Brandon is working hard at the chocolate factory. 

These were some of his Frankenstein caramel apples.

He does good work!

Andrew and I continue our side hustle of 

being Advantage Players at Space Invaders.

We've made $400 so far. Woo hoo!

I got to go to States with my 6.5 40+ tennis team again. 

On Thursday it was beautiful, warm, and sunny.

I got to play with Julie.

She's an amazing partner.

We played SOOOO well,

but ended up a little short.

We won 7-6, lost 6-4, and then BARELY

lost in tiebreak. Oh, it was heartbreaking.

We ate at Dockside afterward.

I love that place.

But I got sick after eating. Ugh!

I never get sick!

I felt well enough to take a quick drive out to the beach, though.

It was a short but sweet visit.

That's actually the moon,

even though it looks like it should be the sun.

Friday morning was FREEZING.

It was like the seasons changed overnight!

I got to play with Ann, who is also a great partner.

It was also a super close match,

but we ended up losing 6-7, 5-7.

Frustrating to come that close both times!

I guess it wasn't my year.

I hurried home after losing that match so I could coach

our end-of-season tourney for the Volley Llamas.

We came in as the underdogs,

but played some GREAT games and

ended up finishing in second place. Woot!

Whitney auditioned and was selected for NC Honors chorus,

the most prestigious choral recognition in the state.

So proud of her!

It is a two-day event held in Winston. 

They spend one a half days rehearsing.

That is a group of TALENTED singers!

I snuck a quick video at rehearsal.

For her dinner break, we walked down to Alma Mexicana,

one of my fave places where I usually go with Bea and Maureen.

We shared two entrees.

One was AMAZING.

The other was... interesting.

Dinner break coincided perfectly with sunset. 

I talked Whit into doing a quick

photo shoot on the roof of the parking

structure while we were waiting

for her evening rehearsal to start.

Splits Across America

The next day,

they rehearsed more in the morning.

Then performed in the afternoon. 

Oh my gosh.

This was easily the best chorus concert I've ever attended.

I wish you all could have been there to enjoy it.

There's Miss Whit, in the back row,

where the tall girls go. :)

(Although the tall guys next to her

make her look petite!)

Here's a little snippet from their final song.

Rousing!

I love, love, loved listening to the magic

that these talented kids could share.

Amazing.

Whit works SO hard on her singing,

lots of time spent rehearsing and memorizing.

I'm happy that her hard work paid off.

Her biggest fans. :)

 A friend shared this pic that she took

of us when Andrew was called as Stake Pres.

For Andrew's birthday,

the girls and I put together a 

Stake Presidency Survival Kit.

He enjoyed that and has put many of his items

to good use already.

He chose birthday dinner at Poblano's. So good.

Cuco's special--his favorite

We made him a yummy chocolate cake.

Marianne and I met for lunch in Charlotte one day this month.

It was SO fun to hang out for a bit!

Whitney got her headshot taken for

A Christmas Carol.

So pretty.

Lunch with Bea and Maureen.

We tried Cugino Forno this time.

Also yummy.

We were all excited to go watch Frozen 2.

We weren't impressed.

We had re-watched Frozen a couple

of days before and were reminded of

HOW GOOD it was.

The sequel didn't measure up.

Temple trip!

Love spending time in the temple.

We attended a Spanish session this time.

Loved practicing my espanol.

Shelley and came to town for a visit before Thanksgiving.

Yay!

They stayed one night with us.

And she wanted to organize a company get-together.

It was fun to see all of the company girls.

And hear them laughing and chatting it up.

We miss Miss Shelley! And TTPB!

The next afternoon,

we had a little get together at the park.

So fun to catch up with old friends.

On the Wed of Thanksgiving break,

we met Ryan and Destinee and their

kids for some bowling and yummy fried food.

So thankful to have these guys nearby.

Andrew was on fire!

He bowled a turkey!

(Seemed very appropriate for Thanksgiving week.)

I think I have the best celebration dances, though.  Ha ha ha!

All four of us adults bowled well,

but Andrew kicked butt.

Then it was home to start prepping for Thanksgiving!

I love this jello-spattered recipe for 

Grandma Cuca's red and white jello salad.

Whoever decided to make the evaporated milk

cans with a pop top lid is a genius!!

Baking away!

Andrew did a fantastic job on the turkey again,

moist, tasty, and delicious.

Ben and April hosted us again.

I think this was our biggest group yet,

twenty people???

Great food and great conversations.

Loved it.

On Friday, we busted out the Christmas decorations.

It was weird not having B around to decorate with us.

For the most part, it has felt normal to have him

moved out, but I've missed him during the holidays.

We still hung his stocking up, though.

The girls have been asking to paint their

rooms for a few months now.

We decided this would be a great weekend to do it!

They were great helpers!

We painted Whit's room on Friday night

and Caroline's room on Sat morning.

Then on Sat afternoon,

we headed to Charlotte to go to 

Carowind's Winterfest.

Copperhead Strike was open this year.

We hadn't ever ridden that one.

I don't like it.

The restraint is only across your lap,

not over your shoulders,

so I felt like I was going to fall out. Yikes!

The girls both liked it, though.

The Afterburn is super fun.

We rode it several times.

Right as it was getting dark and the lights were 

looking cool, it started raining. I had brought ponchos

and thought that we could tough it out.

Caroline had other things in mind.

She was DONE walking and ready to head home.

So we bailed.

Whitney's (almost) finished room.

I love the shade of blue she picked out!

So calming.