Cathedral City Cup Champs

GOHS played 4 games in 2 days to win the Cathedral City tournament championship!

Great job Wolfpack!

Christmas

We had a quiet, but very nice Christmas Eve and day!

 We went to a lovely Christmas Eve candlelight service at Rancho

and dinner at Francesca's which has become tradition.

Christmas morning, we took our time waking up, eating a nice breakfast and opening gifts.  

Stockings first and lottery ticket scratching.  Taylor was the big winner with a $100 ticket!

She loved her Ray Bans, Birkenstocks, Supergas, and all of the clothes and gift cards.

 Allison loved her cowboy boots, Lululemon gift card, goalkeeper gloves and lots of clothes!

Matt and I each seemed to follow the travel/camping theme for each other and he is excited to go see Impractical Jokers this summer with the tickets I got him.  He loved his "The Wheel" shirt from Taylor and I loved my travel necklace from Allison and the recipe box Taylor put together for me.  We watched Home Alone, played some of our new board games and had a nice lazy day together!

Arizona Visit

We drove in to Arizona tonight for an overnight stay with Wendy, David and the boys before heading to ASU for the KU game. We had a nice dinner together and I brought gingerbread houses for the kids to decorate.  

They made it a competition of younger siblings vs. older siblings and it ended in a tie :)

 In the morning, we went for a nice walk to the coffee shop and then the 4 adults hopped in the golf cart to go check out Victory at Verrado...a 55 and older community built at the base of the White Tank Mountains.  We have a few years to go, but this sure would be a nice place to retire!  

 We toured several model homes and the country club facilities before we needed to head out.

 We changed into our KU gear and said goodbye to make our way to ASU.

Thank you friends for another fun visit!

 We checked into our hotel in Tempe and then walked to Zipp's where there was a KU fan bar takeover!  

 We met up with the Brink's for drinks and appetizers before walking over to the arena.

 It was such a fun experience seeing the KU support!

 I was so excited to attend my first KU game...sadly Azibuke had to sit out due to an ankle injury

 and although KU held the lead most of the game, they lost in the last seconds.  It was heartbreaking! It was a great night anyway and we look forward to watching them again soon at Allen Fieldhouse!

SD Bay Light Parade

Taylor flew home for Christmas break today and we picked her up and went straight to Miguel's in Point Loma for mexican food!  I love having these girls reunite!

Then it was down to the waterfront to watch the SD Light Parade!

 It was freezing so we didn't make it through the whole thing,

but it helped us get into the Christmas spirit.  Excited to have Taylor home for the next 5 weeks!

Securitas Christmas Dinner

 Matt and I were invited to the Manager Christmas Dinner for my work tonight at Fleming's Steakhouse in SD!  I'm glad he could join me to finally meet all of the staff I talk about each day and it was night to get a fun date night!

From seafood platters to filet mignon, salmon and all of the side dishes,

to chocolate lava cake, carrot cake and creme brûlée'...everything was delicious!  We enjoyed being spoiled!

It's Official!

When we got back from NC, this was in the mail!  Allison's official offer letter from KWU!

I love that Coach Kat personalized it and made Allie feel very special!  She has some time to make a decision, but it is great seeing her hard work pay off!

North Carolina

We were in Raleigh, North Carolina this weekend for the CASL Soccer Showcase.  We packed a lot into the weekend with lots of soccer and college campus tours.  Our first stop was NC State.

We toured the Sports Complex and the Student Union,

 walked through the center of campus,

 through graffiti-lined tunnels

 and into the Brickyard.  I think Matt liked it more than Allie and I did...we didn't get a great vibe.

 Allie played 3 games over the course of the weekend and attended a special goalkeeper training session.

 The team struggled to score goals and although Allison played every minute of all 3 games, she didn't see a ton of action.  There were over 70 coaches that watched so hopefully that will turn into some prospects!

 We also got to attend the Semi Finals of the College Cup.  We saw Stanford play Florida State at WakeMed Soccer Park.

 It was cold and rainy, but a really cool experience watching some very talented players!

 Allie's Surf teammates

 We also had time to tour University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  

 This campus was huge, but so pretty!

 Not too impressed with the outer appearance of the Dean Smith Center, but pretty cool seeing Roy Williams walk laps on the court while the basketball team practiced!

 Before heading to the airport, we snuck in a quick visit with Julie and Chris.  We ate at Dame's Chicken and Waffles in Cary, NC.  It was a fun time catching up and the food was amazing!

Sweet potato waffle, fried chicken and macaroni and cheese!