Holiday Tradition

I've heard that if you want traditions, you should start them early.

So I made a few calls, worked some magic, and managed to get "in" with the elves at the North Pole.  That's right.  Apparently elves only like to visit families with children.  Well, I've got one on the way and my little family was in desperate need of some Holiday cheer--with Daniel's finals coming up, he's been "unavailable" for the past forever and I was spending a lot of time alone... in front of the TV... scaring myself with Criminal Minds or trying to put myself in the holiday spirit with ABC Family's holiday count down. Boring. But on December 1st, this all changed (sorta haha).

Daniel and I walked into the kitchen area and there was an elf sitting on our table!  He came directly from the North Pole with a note from Santa, a brief introduction (written by himself), his passport (which included an "All about Me--Getting to Know Your Elf" section), and a traditional "North Pole" breakfast: "snow" covered donuts, marshmallows, and "hot" chocolate just the way the elves drink it at the North Pole--ice cold (chocolate milk).  It was a beautiful morning.  Daniel was so excited to learn that an elf was staying with us for the month of December.  He couldn't stop laughing all morning haha.

Anyway, I left to go to work and apparently Walnut (our elf, who prefers his friends to call him Wally) decided to watch a little TV.  ESPN to be exact.  Daniel, who was in the back studying, was confused because he thought that it was me watching TV.  He was delighted when he saw Wally making himself at home.

Since then, our home has been filled with tricks and treats (sounds like the wrong holiday huh?! haha), but it's been a lot of fun.  Santa, in his letter, warned us that Wally had a history of mischief so luckily we were warned and not surprised when we found the little rascal hustling other toys and betting all of Daniel's cash and valuables in a poker game. I even walked in the apartment to him mooning me (that's right... didn't think I'd ever be able to say I've seen elf butt cheeks!).  But overall, he's a very sweet little elf.  He won me some popcorn in a gambling match against Penny (my build-a-bear), he hitched a ride all the way to Hickory just to help Daniel and I pick out the perfect Christmas tree (I'll tell you all about this trip in a minute), and he even left Daniel some York Peppermint patties in the freezer.  Wally was hanging out in there because he's a little homesick for the North Pole. Elves.....

ANYWAY...

Last weekend, Daniel and drove to Hickory so that we could drive into the mountains with his parent and help them pick out their Christmas tree. In all the hustle and bustle, I forgot to grab Wally and was really sad that he was going to miss our first tree hunt.  We got up the next morning and were helping around the kitchen when to our surprise, Daniel found Wally sitting on the car in the garage with a hand-made book entitled, "An Elf's Guide to Finding the Perfect Christmas Tree."  As I mentioned earlier, he hitched a ride all the way to Hickory to help us out.  What a sweet little elf.

We had a lot of fun picking out our trees.  The branches made great swords and Daniel and I had a fight to the death on the mountains.  He died, but then miraculously came back.  We got free hot chocolate, bought some candies, stopped on the side of the road for a picture, ended up taking a little hike, and then went to lunch (PS. It was about 60 degrees in December!).  We all had some great hush puppies, slaw, and pork BBQ. 

Daniel and I were planning on driving home that night, but instead we went and heard his parents sing at a nativity event at the church.  After that, I rested while Daniel did homework/ watched the BYU football game.  Also worthy of note, that night I experienced the worst heart burn of my life and also the worst leg pain of my life.  I made Daniel massage my leg at 12:45am it hurt so bad.  Luckily, it was gone in the morning.

Kelten was blessed on Sunday and that was a very sweet event, Daniel and I set up and decorated our first ever Christmas tree (I've included a picture of my favorite ornament--we got it for our wedding), and in the evening Daniel and I went and played a game at one of my old BYU friend's house (I met this boy years ago while living at the Colony at BYU.  He's now at Duke getting his doctorate.  Daniel and I ran into him and his beautiful new wife our first Sunday in North Carolina.  Small world!)

That's all we've been up to.

TEN days until we fly into Utah and the real holiday celebration begins.  I can NOT wait :-D

 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2011 was... interesting.

Daniel's sister was in the hospital due to a same-day surgery gone astray, so all our Thanksgiving plans were cancelled and rerouted.  Daniel and I ended up hosting.

Menu:

Appetizer

Mediterranean Salad

Entree

Turkey

Mashed Potatoes

Home-made Gravy

Sweet Potatoes

Brocolii

Stuffing

Dessert

Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Here is Daniel learning how to carve the turkey and make gravy.

And here is our humble table setting. We didn't have a table cloth or enough matching dishes. Oh well. haha

It was simple and delicious...and a little luke-warm.  Daniel and I had no idea how to keep everything warm with only one oven!  After dinner, we spent the rest of the night at the hospital playing Ticket to Ride across Jennie's hospital bed.  She was too tired to play, so she just watched.  I placed in second and I believe Daniel lost haha.  

Unfortunately, all our last minute plans made it so Daniel and I couldn't justify driving 9 hours to Tennessee for our good friend Terry's wedding :-( .  That was probably the biggest disappointment of the holiday weekend.  We'll definitely have to make that up to him.  Instead, I spent the entire morning watching ABC Family's countdown to the 25 day countdown for Christmas.  Boring.  I was sad the whole day Terry was off celebrating. 

To try and make me feel better, Daniel took me to the Duke Gardens.  Even though nothing was in bloom, we still had fun.  We packed turkey sandwiches, popcorn, and apples and got to eat our lunch while sitting in the sun.  It was a gorgeous day. You really can't beat seventy degree weather the day after Thanksgiving.

Western North Carolina

Everybody keeps telling Daniel and me to travel now, because once the baby comes, we won't want to.  Although I slightly agree, I don't think there is anything that could keep Daniel from visiting out of town friends and family whenever he gets the chance.  He's almost too dedicated to the people he cares about, so this past weekend, we drove about 5 hours to Western North Carolina because the MacCourtney's were in town.  More specifically, Sean, who just got home from his Sydney, Australia Mission. 

This trip was a little easier than last weeks because Daniel's parent's house is almost exactly half way between Carrboro and Cherokee (our final destination/the Indian reservation that the MacCourtney's live on), so at least our drive was broken up. 

Let's start at the beginning--

Thursday, November 17, 2011: Daniel went home to visit with his parents after class and that left me home alone for the night.  It was weird.  Daniel and I haven't been apart for a long time haha, but don't worry, I kept myself busy:  I washed our sheets, cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed the whole house, and started the "nesting" process--I set up the crib and I pulled out some of the toys and blankets I kept from when I was little :-). I even laid out the smallest onesie we've been given because it's so gosh-darn-tiny and cute and will serve as a reminder of the tiny little girl that is going to join our family in THREE months! (I really can't think about the time frame because I get too excited, overwhelmed, scared, excited, etc.)

Friday, November 18, 2011:  I went to work.  It was a long and boring day, but as soon as the clock struck 5:00pm, I was in my car headed to meet up with Daniel.  The 2.5 hr drive wasn't too bad.  I listened to the end of the Davinci Code (again) and then blasted Christmas music (that's right, I'm already into Christmas music).  I sang really loudly too and the baby either loved it or wanted me to stop ASAP.  She was so wiggly and even though I have no idea if this is the case, I told Daniel that she was being "cute" and "funny" in there.  I like her haha.  When I finally got to the house, Daniel wouldn't let me come inside right away.  He had a few "finishing touches" to add to the really nice dinner he made for us: grilled chicken marinated with olive oil, garlic, capers, and Greek(?) olives, served over top couscous with blanched broccoli (from the garden) and a cheesy sauce.  Yum.  After dinner we were going to go to a dollar movie, but opted for a night-in instead.  We just hung out and watched Rango (Well Daniel did.  I fell asleep like 30 minutes into it).

Saturday, November 19, 2011:   Saturday morning, Daniel and I woke up around 8:00am and got ready to drive the rest of the way to Cherokee.  Seeing as it was a "special" weekend, we went to Bojangles for breakfast (one of Daniel's favorite fast food restaurants that we usually never go to).  We listened to the Transiberian Orchestra CD and talked the entire way there.  We got to the MacCourtney's house around noon and to our surprise, no body was home.  Typical ;-) haha.  We eventually got a hold of them and found out that they were at their aunt's house about ten minutes down the road, so we met up with them there.

We got to Aunt Pooh's house, visited a bit, played with the little cousin (Andrew, age 4) and then headed off to a quick lunch sponsored by Grandma and Grandpa Cooper at a little burger shop.  After lunch, I continued to play with Andrew and the "big boys" played football in the drive way.  We tried to play a board game, but were too distracted and then the guys all had to get ready for the "Welcome Home Sean" gathering that was being held that night. The gathering was at the hotel across the street and was really nice.  Sean played slide with pictures and movies from his mission and everybody just talked and enjoyed some good food. Afterwords, the boys all watched football, but I fell asleep on the couch.  Cooper's mom booked us a room at the hotel, we eventually got there and I slept great.  Ps.  I LOVE king size beds haha.

Sunday, November 20, 2011:  Sunday morning Daniel and I got a complimentary buffet breakfast at the hotel.  Awesome.  We then headed back to the house to make sure that the boys were up and ready for church.  They weren't haha. But they got ready very fast and it was off to church.  The main reason for our trip was for Sean's homecoming address and it was wonderful. I really enjoyed his talk and the entire church service.  It was probably one of the friendliest wards I have ever been to.  For example, I mentioned to one of the women that I was learning how to embroider and she handed me a HUGE bag full of thread, material, and she even gave me a few tips.  Apparently a woman in the Relief Society had passed away and had left a bunch of sewing things that were "up for grabs."  No body knew me, but they shared with me anyways.  Also, another woman came up to me asking me questions about the baby.  I put this in here because during the lesson, the baby was wide away and dancing.  The woman said that she could see the baby moving from across the room!!  I loved that.  This baby girl is going to be a handful. 

After church, we started getting lunch/dinner ready and I sat and visited with Grandma Cooper.  We ate (a really big and delicious meal) and then headed out to toss some footballs and soccer balls around.

Daniel and I left around 6:00pm and we decided to drive straight home to Carrboro.  It was so good to see the MacCourtney boys and family.  They really are a great bunch.

****Let me explain Daniel and my connection to this family. Daniel met Cooper his freshman year of college and they became really good friends. After their missions, Daniel became Cooper's roommate. Throughout the next 4 years of his college experience, he also roomed with Chase and Sean (the other two MacCourtney boys) becoming close with them. As the years passed, Daniel also met and became friends with members of the extended family that would come to visit or lived in the area (that includes aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and even great aunts and uncles and second cousins!) Daniel and I started dating, eventually married, and I was blessed to become friends with this family as well haha. In fact, one of the MacCourtney cousins (Jillian) and her husband (Trenton) became our go to hang out people every weekend when we were first married. So what I'm basically saying is that Daniel and I feel like we know the entire mother's side of the family and we are trying to be adopted in because they are really cool haha.*****




   

 

Pennsylvania & Maryland = Friends & Family

This past weekend, Daniel and I drove a lot.  It was worth it.

Thursday, November 10:
Right after I got off work, Daniel and I grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to Pennsylvania--my home state :-).  I drove first, but only lasted about 3.5 hours before Daniel made me pull over because I was making him nervous haha.  For the record, I wasn't falling asleep. My contacts were just getting blurry. Daniel drove the rest of the way but it went by really fast because we were listening to the Davinci Code on CD.  We got to Jessi and Richie's new apartment around 1:00am.  We said some brief hello's and immediately hit the hay.  We were exhausted.

Friday, November 11:
Jessi had to work a partial day, so Daniel and I decided to go into the city (Philadelphia).

Daniel had never been and there is some pretty cool stuff there!  Because it was Veteran's Day, the traffic wasn't too bad.  After several detours around the city (due to our GPS being stupid), we found parking and headed to the Historical District.  We saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Cool. 

I remember going to those places in elementary school and it was fun to go back when I actually appreciated them haha.

After that, Daniel and I just wandered around the city a bit and we eventually made it to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch.  We were torn between there and Pat's or Gino's (the famous Philadelphia Cheese Steak places).  It was a tough choice, but lets just say we were not disappointed.  We started off with an appetizer: a soft pretzel.  We got it from what appeared to be a Mennonite stand (judging by the dress of the women).  It tasted exactly as I remembered it from growing up.  I never even knew that Philadelphia pretzels were special!  But man oh man, Daniel LOVED them :-).  After that, we went to a number of different stands and tasted all of the free samples of cheese, peanut butter, crackers, etc.  until we eventually found the stand Daniel had seen on the food network--Hershels East Side Deli.  "Classic hand-carved deli sandwiches & authentic homemade Jewish specialities." YES. I ordered a pastrami sandwich and when Daniel saw how big they were, we decided to just share it.  We watched the man cut the pastrami off a huge slab of meat and then pile it on the bread.  Literally.  There was about 2.5 inches of meat on that sandwich!  We got a deli pickle and shared a can of root beer.

We eventually found a seat (that's right... just one) at a table and shared that too so we could eat our lunch and listen to the jazz-like band that was playing.  Eventually a second chair opened up and we relaxed out butt cheeks and ate away (at the sandwich).  It was great!  We picked up another pretzel on our way out and marveled at all of the delicious sweets that we can't yet afford but will one day devour haha.

After that meal, Daniel and I went to "LOVE" park.  It was my first time there and I was so shocked. In my head I had envisioned this beautiful park with lovers left and right and a HUGE "LOVE" sign right in the middle.  Instead, Daniel and I ran into a bunch of 12 year olds and foreigners standing in front of a 3ft tall LOVE sign which was placed in front of a cement circle.  There wasn't even grass haha.  To our further dismay, the 12 year olds and the foreigners were not adequate photographers (you'll see what I mean in a second), but we did get away with a couple good shots before my camera died (<---proof that I'm an Alexander haha).

Foreigner's picture

12 year olds picture

From there, we headed back to the car. But not without a few random Philly Photo's :-)

Anyway, we wanted to be at Jessi's apartment waiting for her when she got done work, but traffic disagreed with us.  Our thirty minute drive into the city turned into an hour and thirty minute drive out of the city.  When we finally did get to Jessi's apartment (which is beautiful by the way), we jumped right back into the car and headed to Boyertown--my home town. We drove into my old neighborhood and I just stood staring at my old house.  I was surprised at how many memories it brought back and how much I actually missed the place. We visited with my old neighbors (the Bertino's) for a couple of hours and it was like I never left.  Well, minus the fact that Michael's a little more gray, Jillian is now taller than me, and Mr. Woody (the family dog) wasn't there :-(.  It was fun to reminisce.

Our next stop was to surprise Joann and Gar--Jessi's parent's.  They were surprised.  We caught up on life and then we had to ship out of there.  There were not enough hours in the day and we had to go to Zerns haha.  That's right.  Zerns--one of the largest flea markets on the east coast.  A place that I actually went to quite often with friends and family when I lived close by.  1. They have the best beef jerky. 2. They have the most interesting people. haha.

From there we headed back to Jessi's place (about 30 minutes away IF that), Richard made us dinner (at 9:30pm), and then Sarah Kerns and her fiance Ryan came over.  It was fun to just sit around and visit. A few other people said they were coming and then didn't because it was "too far away".  They asked me to pick a "more central" location to meet up next time. Oh OKAY. See ya in Virgina next time JERKS! haha  I probably shouldn't publish that tidbit of my trip, but I was very excited to see those kids and they broke my heart when they bailed on me for such a stupid reason. Boo.  Oh well.

Eventually, Sarah and Ryan had to go to leave and the rest of us had to go to bed.  I was exhausted.

Saturday, November 12:
Richie had to work Saturday morning so Daniel, Jessi, and I decided to go out for breakfast. We walked to a cute little breakfast/lunch joint called Annamaria's (recommended by the Bertino's) and met up with MATT HAUSE!  It was so great to see him.  Jessi and I supplied him with all sorts of highschool "dirt" that was never dug up back in the day and we spent the morning laughing away.  As Jessi put it so perfectly (when explaining Matt to Daniel), "Matt Hause is the kind of guy that doesn't show emotion that easily, so we would do all sorts of stupid things to try and get him to laugh, and when we did manage to get him to laugh hysterically, it was like hitting the jack pot." Well friends, it still is. I felt like I had won a million bucks after eating breakfast with those kids.  Poor Daniel had no idea what was going on, but I was so happy.  I'm so grateful to have a husband who is willing to trek all over the place just so I'll have a few hours to reminisce my childhood.  He was such a trooper the whole time.  After we left the restaurant, (this is where my entry gets sad for a bit), we had to say goodbye.  It was a quick trip to PA, but we were off to Baltimore to visit Nate, April and my adorable nephew's Edison and McKay.

I drove so Daniel could do some of his homework.  It was a stressful car ride but I won't get into that haha.  Lets just say that our GPS took us on these tiny back roads to avoid tolls only to put us thirty minutes behind and right on a toll road anyway. When we got to Baltimore, I was so sad that Edison wasn't running out to greet me.  I absolutly LOVE hearing him say "Aunt (sometimes Uncle) Mandi" haha, but he was napping, so Daniel and I got to visit with Nate and April for a little bit which was nice. When the little boys finally woke up, we went for a quick drive and then to a park where the Baltimore skyline was absolutly beautiful. Edison was going crazy (putting on a show for us) and I loved every second of it.  For dinner, Nate took us to a really awesome NY Pizza shop and we ordered 2 pizza's and a sub.  I was disgusted at how much I ate... haha but it was so good. After that, we walked around a little and we got some Canoli (?) bits from an Italian bakery.  Next time we go to town, we're definitly getting the eclaires from that shop too haha.

We went to bed early which was nice.  This whole pregnant thing is starting to wipe me out fast, but it ended up being a good thing.  Edison isn't sleeping through the night anymore and poor Nate and April have to get up with him atleast 3 times per night.  They were both exhausted too. 

Sunday, November 13
We went to church.  Edison got kicked out of nursery because the teachers were "unable to control him" haha --he dumped out all of the snacktime water cups, and after church we went back to the house and played.  McKay is absolutly adorable.  His big blue eyes have so much emotion in them and he's so ticklish and squishy that I just want to squeeze him all day haha.  Edison is just too smart for his own good.  He loves having pillow fights and he loved shouting "Good Morning!" at baby Baird and then patting my belly.  He also said that she would kick everytime he talked to her. (Actually, he referred to the baby as a boy the entire time even though I told him it was a girl.  I don't think he's got the whole "she" vs "he" thing down yet).  At one point, Edison told me that the baby would pop out just like buddy boo (what he call's McKay), but that she might want to go back in after a while because he might make her cry by bonking her on the head haha.  Daniel had a one on one conversation with Edison at this point about how he was going to have to be nice to the baby.  It was cute.

We ate dinner, we talked, we went for a walk, and then it was time for Daniel and I to head home.  Daniel drove the whole way and I had the worst heartburn I've ever had in my life haha. We got home a little after midnight and went to bed.

We did eventually get a semi good one

It's so crazy to think that I'm all grown up & having a baby, visiting old friends in their homes, and visiting family--Nate and April (Christian was going to come, but ended up having a "situation" at his own apartment that made him unavailable. Boo. Next time.).  It makes me laugh because I remember going to my Aunt and Uncle's houses when I was little but I never thought of it as "oh, my Dad visiting his brother!"  But here I am, visiting my brother/s, and soon, my baby will be visiting her cousins.  That's what I call a circle.  I love it. 

I love having family and friends close enough to do a whirl-wind weekend trip.:-)     

Today I am officially SIX months pregnant!

Crazy.  My whole pregnancy thus far has been a breeze and it has gone by so fast.  (I guess finding out when you're already a few months in helps!) And although I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of the little girl growing inside of me, I just wanted to make note of how much I am enjoying my last few months in my family of two: me and Daniel. 

With me working full time and Daniel being a full-time grad student, it's hard to find time where we can just "hang out," but the few minutes we do squeeze in each day are what make me the happiest and I feel like we have grown together so much over the past few months.  This weekend is a perfect example of this.

Friday night we picked up a free pizza and ate our dinner in the Domino's parking lot before heading to Durham where were going to spend the rest of the night butchering chicken with Daniel's mom, sister, and brother-in-law.  There was nothing glorious planned in that evening.  We even got caught in horrible traffic on the way there, but Daniel and I managed to entertain ourselves, eat the rest of our large pizza, and then at the end of the night (and 80lbs of chicken later), take home about 14 large chicken breasts to keep in our freezer and use (Thank you Sally!!).  Why did the night turn out to be such a success?  Because we were together.

Saturday, Daniel woke up early and went to play soccer with his friends.  As usual, I slept in :-).  When he got home, he had a HUGE box of produce from the farmers market with him.  Because we can't possibly use all that's in the box before it goes bad, we spent the rest of Saturday morning washing, cutting, and freezing different fruits and vegetables for later use.  We had the Disney movie "Songs of the South" playing in the background and even stopped to fully enjoy the epic film while we ate our lunch of cheese and bean quesadillas with chips and salsa.  Let me just say that I love Uncle Remus and his chipper laugh :-)  After the movie, we made homemade black bean soup and went for a long walk through down town Carrboro and got to visit all the art studios of locals.  It was awesome.  When we got back to the apartment, we ate our soup and Mattie and Matt (some of our friends) came over and watched a movie with us. Once again, there was nothing glorious about the day, but we got to spend it together and I had so much fun.  We laughed the entire time. Also (for the record), Matt and Mattie left at about 11:30pm.  I was tired and wanted to go to bed, but Daniel wanted to stay up and watch football.  I went to bed and fell asleep, but needless to say, the "late for bed" fairy visited Daniel and stole and hid his pillow.  I think next time he'll come to bed when I ask him too. haha         

And Sunday.  Daniel woke up and made me waffles with fresh strawberries (we forgot it was fast Sunday! Whoops.) We got ready for church, went to church, and enjoyed church. We had put a roast in our slow cooker before we left and came home to a delightful smelling house. We had all the typical veggies, a side salad, and we even made a gravy!  As we sat at the table and blessed the food I was reminded of my own family's Sunday dinners and couldn't help but think, "Wow. I'm married. I have a cute little apartment, a cute husband, and now we cook our own fancy schmancy Sunday dinners.  I'm a grown up!"  And for whatever reason, having that pot roast on the table made made me feel like I could do this whole mother thing no problem. haha  What's even better is that Daniel was sitting across from me and I knew that I had the best helping hand in the world.  We spent the rest of our Sunday going for a long walk in the beautiful autumn weather, swinging, and playing fargo (a dice game that I usually win :-) )

I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. I got to spend so much time with just Daniel.  I feel like time has only made us we laugh harder, communicate better, and genuinely enjoy each other (which is great considering we are going to be together forever). 

So yeah.  Even though three has always been my favorite number,  I'm really enjoying my family of two :-)

Love-A-Fair North Carolina

I've really enjoyed living in North Carolina these past few months.  In fact, I didn't even have to have my three nights of tears after a move like I usually do! (I think Daniel and my move to Scotland over the summer helped with that--our first three nights there were rough) But last night sealed the deal-- North Carolina is a GREAT state.  What would make me say this??  THE STATE FAIR!

I got off work 20 minutes early and Daniel and I headed to Raleigh.  We got to the fair grounds about 30 minutes later (with minimal traffic), parked for free, walked in through gate 8, and wow!! The rides, food, colorful lights, crafts, people, and animals were all accounted for.  Daniel and I just walked around soaking in the atmosphere while we waited for his family to arrive.

That time was not wasted. We got free hush puppies (fried cornmeal batter) and we walked through a little demonstration of how the cornmeal is made.   We also visited two craft tents, one in which we saw a number of displays made of Lego's! Including a circus, costume shop, angry birds tree, and cathedral (to name a few).

I even got a really cool picture with this giant, antique hot dog!

Incredible. I could have spent a long time in that tent just looking at all of the random entries of the State Fair, but Sally, Jennie, Martin, and baby Kelten arrived and we were off to find the real fair treasure:  food.

Daniel and I decided to go with the ever famous turkey leg.  It was smoky, tender, and delicious.  Not to mention salty-- which I loved.  We devoured it... with the help of everybody but we still didn't eat the whole thing! (Brace yourself for the next picture... it's barbaric)

Here is Daniel, with his turkey leg, in front of a sign that has all the other types of food provided at the fair.

Yupp, you read correctly...fried oreos, fried pickles, fried twinkies (which will always hold a special place in my heart haha), fried pecan pies, fried bubble gum (ew), fried KOOLAID (for crying out loud people! really?!) and the list goes on.  Jennie bought some fried pickles which were great, Sally bough some grilled corn and that was good, and then we headed to the holy food stands.

This entire row of food stands was run by local and state churches.  Their slogan, "Serving God one ham biscuit at a time."  Daniel and I loved that.  There was even a man (I assume a Pastor) singing songs about how they love serving the Lord with biscuits. Needless to say the Lord was served three times as Martin, Sally, and Jennie bought the holy ham biscuits.  I sampled, they were good.

We tried some homemade rootbeer and Daniel was given a free corn dog for sporting his Chelsea jersey! COOL.  We almost turned it down because we were so stuffed, but then we thought, really? Turn down free food?  We just couldn't do that.

After all that food, we just meandered around looking through different tents full of displays.  We looked at award winning quilts, cookies, cakes, table settings, dresses, houses made of cardboard, watermelons, pumpkins, other veggies, animals etc.   I've posted pictures of the table settings and the "Best of Show/ 1st place" cake.  I loved the cakes.  The bead work on the moccasins was immaculate.  WOW.  And you can't go to the state fair with out getting a picture with the biggest pumpkin (and watermelons too I guess)!

We also took pictures of the animals.  I loved the piglets trying to feed. They weren't the brightest animals though.  The little guy closest to the camera couldn't latch on and kept moving down the nipple line until eventually he was sucking his mother's toe.... haha idiot.

Then we ate more food: free samples of beef jerky, peanuts, peanut butter, maple butter, hot sauce, cake, cookies, etc. I of course bought a giant fair pickle (only 50 cents!) and before we knew it it was time for..... dun-da-da-dah.... THE PIG RACES.

We got a funnel cake for the show and rushed to the track. At this point in the night it was pouring down rain, but nothing could damper our spirits.  (Another positive of North Carolina.  WARM RAIN).  At the track, we ran into Daniel's classmate Allie.  Pleasant surprises all night long :-)

The races began and Daniel was selected to be the the official "Hammy Hamilton" cheerleader and by gum that little pig ran his heart out and won! His prize, cheese puffs. Daniel's, a shiny blue ribbon with a pig on it and a Christian cross.  We loved it. Just enjoy these videos...

(Dad, I thought of you the whole time.  You would have LOVED this... the whole fair actually. haha)

That's right.  Not only did we watch pigs race, but we watched goats, indian runner ducks, and pot bellied pigs run (did you see the little guy stop to take a wizz in the pot bellied pig race? ha). So fun! 

After the races, we went and looked at the "art gallery."  There are some pretty talented people in North Carolina.  While we strolled the rows and rows of photography and paintings we munched on a fried oreo.  To my surprise, it was good and soft in texture.  

We finished the night with a great fireworks show.  Could a Tuesday night have gone any better??  My only complaint was that after all that fair food and walking, I actually felt pregnant! BUT then again, so did Daniel haha.

We decided that no matter where we end up, our kids are going to be encouraged to enter the state fair.  It's such a great place and I feel like you can enter anything.  I think I'm going to enter something next year... I don't know what yet, but I just feel like it's an experience I should have in life and where better to do that than in NORTH CAROLINA?!

Wish you could have been there!