Epic Scavenger Hunt

 The Wray family knows me well.

To celebrate my upcoming 50th birthday they picked the very best activity I could imagine.... a big family-wide scavenger hunt!  They created a big race through uptown Charlotte, divided the fam into 6 teams, each with a different color bandana!, and sent us out to find clues.

What was supposed to take about 90 minutes and go about 1.5 miles around the city actually lasted more like 2.5 hours and we ran about 4 miles.... but who's counting.

Some funny little blips -- like having a homeless person steal some clues and the World Cup-viewing throng blocking an alley we needed to go down -- just added to the adventure of it all.

Despite Poppa repeatedly saying, "I thought this was supposed to be a nice WALKING activity!" most of us ran most of the way, and ended up quite sweaty at the end.  I was worried Jinna would have a hard time keeping up, but in the end it was her team that WON!

We had a great time and I can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon.  (The weather was perfect, too!)

A Charlotte Thanksgiving

We had a fantastic, over-the-top Thanskgiving in Charlotte this year!  The *whole* family was together, which meant first and foremost it was time to get another "tree picture."

In addition, there was plenty of time for hanging out at Nonna and Poppa's,...

.... hanging out and having dinner at John and Keiko's new house....

.... playing with the Clarks at a park....

.... and of course the Thanksgiving day football game on the golf course!

 It was very refreshing to be with everyone again and we were very grateful to be there!

Lots o' food

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen this month... which is really not extraordinary.  But here are 2 of the reasons for the food prep:

The high school youth group stopped by for appetizers on their "progressive dinner" night.  They swarmed in, inhaled the food, played a quick game, and then swarmed back out, all in approximately 2.6 seconds.

 Meanwhile at the Christian Academy, our Cookie Club is back in action for the second year.  This time about 40 students took part in making or decorating cookies.  Talk about a whirlwind of powdered sugar and flour!  There were a few intense hours involved.

 

 

Recent remarks

 My little bear cubs have grown up, but their conversations are still just as entertaining.

At a restaurant together last week, the boys were talking about their respective sports training programs.  Colsen was waxing on about his regimen and daily strains for improvement. The conversation came around to Miles and I asked him why he wasn't out training for soccer more often.

Miles leaned back and said, "I'm content with my soccer skills."

Colsen immediately and energetically retorted, "Contentment is the thief of excellence!"

I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

*****

This afternoon I was giving the boys a written quiz on the first 10 chapters of the book of Acts.  One of the questions asked for the name of a particular woman and both of the boys were struggling to come up with her exact name.

I told them I would give the points to whomever had the most correct letters of her name.  Miles suddenly lit up with a smile and started writing.

"No, Miles!" Colsen yelled. "You can't just write down the whole alphabet."

Miles kept chuckling and Colsen said, "I can't believe I know you so well that I knew that's exactly what you would do."  He was right.

Church Talent Show

Grace Anglican hosted their first church-wide talent show this past weekend and it was a hoot!  

The emcees -- Chad and Andrew -- were hilarious and had great intros to each act.  We loved getting to see the various oft-hidden talents of fellow church attenders.

Colsen was persuaded to bring back his yo-yo routine...

 

.... and half of Miles' band performed "The Boxer."  It had a fun twist  -- at one point he and Bereket switched instruments!

All the performers:

 

GateWay Girls

The GateWay Girls group is going gangbusters!

We've been having fun playing games, studying the women of the Bible, doing some crafts, learning about personal finance, giving speeches, taking personality assessments, and learning about virtues!

We're very thankful for these girls and moms.

 

These days

Random scenes like this:

 

16

When Colsen called us from Hershey the day before his birthday he told us it was already his "best birthday ever!"  The team celebrated him on the trip, and we happily celebrated him when he got home.

  

He requested a copycat Nothing Bundt Cake, and his favorite gifts were -- shocking -- running gear and shoes.

State Champions!

With great excitement and anticipation Colsen and his team headed to Hershey this week.  Before the big race they were able to enjoy some of the sights.

When the time for the big race finally arrived, Pete and Miles were able to watch in person, but the rest of us had to view it like this from home.

It was a very tough race -- for both the runners and the viewers!  At the very end we saw Colsen cross the finish line and then collapse.  I had to walk away from the computer until I got a call from Pete saying Cole was ok.  He sure gave his all!

And it paid off.  The team had their first ever State victory for the Grove City XC program, after several close attempts.

The whole town is so proud of them.  They even got a police escort when they arrived back in town at 10:00 at night!

 

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What a season!  We're so proud of our champion.

District Champions!

 Cole's XC team handily won the district title and are now Hershey-bound for the State competetion!

So.... when exactly is it a good time for math?

 Miles just now:  "Ahhhh, I hate math!  I hate doing math on Tuesdays.  I hate doing math on -- well, I guess it's a 5-way tie."