Photos: UNC Alumni Games, 2nd version

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Forgot to post these! These are from the second part of the UNC 100 years of Basketball celebration Alumni game, the part in February. This very well could be the last public appearance of legendary UNC Coach Dean Smith and I’m so glad Hayley was able to see it. That was the highlight of course but other memorable moments include seeing the oldest UNC basketball alumni around actually playing ball again – guys in their 70s and 80s on the court! They broke up the game into segments being played by groups of players from a similar era. Very cute.

See more photos and videos this set:
Regular view (easiest to find one in particular or print)
Slideshow view (easiest to see them all)

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Leslie Hall story on CNN!

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One of our super favorite perfomers Leslie Hall was profiled on CNN!! And OMG, she’s in talks for a show on HBO!!! I thought seeing her live and on Yo Gabba Gabba was a big deal – an entire show of the Midwest Diva and her lady jams might just blow my mind!

YOU’RE GLAMOROUS! SHAZZAM!

Read the article: Quirky Iowa rapper gaining ce-Web-rity status.

My previous posts on her:

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Photos: UNC wins National Championship

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Photos from watching the game at the Sky Bar (Thanks Russell), down on Franklin Street after the win and at the Dean Dome the next day to welcome the team back.

See more photos from this set:
Regular view (easiest to find one in particular or print)
Slideshow view (easiest to see them all)

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Jeff’s folks at Obama Rally

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Jeff’s folks were selected to be on the stands right behind Barack Obama at a rally in Roanoke, VA on Oct. 17th. I collected some photos and videos of them.

Sharen is in light blue with a blue hat, John is in maroon shirt with a maroon hat.

Photos:

Video:

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Photos: Jeff’s folks in Rome & Greece with VT women’s basketball team

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Jeff’s parents John and Sharen are touring Rome and Greece with the Virginia Tech women’s basketball team. The team has a blog with photos from the games and site seeing and we found a few photos of his folks.

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Holly Springs Sun article on U10G Crush

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The Holly Springs Sun had an article on Hayley’s soccer team making to the finals in their first big-time away tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C. I finally got around to scanning it in.

It was lovely to see an article on them since we had such a great time down there and the girls played so well. I was a bit astonished to be going five hours to play but it really was lots of fun.

The file is a pdf so you can read and print it easily:

Read the Holly Springs Sun article: Great Carolina Shootout Finalist.

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Photo Gallery: Hayley as ‘celebrity judge’ at Webkinz Party

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DSC_7809

OH MY GOSH, Hayley and I had so much fun at the Webkinz Party at Swagger Gifts today. We got to judge contests, buy webkinz at 50% off, face/arm painting with the Webkinz W, snacks, coloring and all sorts of stuff.

Hayley, myself and Mandy, the wonderful store owner, were the judges of the contests – best room, best name, most webkinz and best drawing/coloring. That is Hayley and Mandy going over rooms of drawings – those were the final group, there were over 100 rooms entered! Hayley got a Black Bear for helping and since they were 50% off ($6 for lil’kinz and $7 for kinz!) we got four of those that we’ll enter later (well except one, the lil’kinz googles which we entered already!

See more photos from this set:
Regular view (easiest to find one in particular or print)
Slideshow view (easiest to see them all)

CONTEST WINNERS

  • Best Room Design: #1 Julia’s room, #2 Olivia’s room, #3 (tie) Anna & Patrick’s rooms.
  • Best Names: #1 Polar Bear named Coca-Cola, #2 Panda named Ling-Ling, #3 Dalmation named Black Pepper. Honorable Mention: Golden Retriever named Butterscotch, Cocker Spaniel named Goldilocks, Koala named Kung Fu and a Polar Bear named Icee.
  • Best Coloring of Webkinz page: Overall winner, Colton with Chef Gazpacho, #1 in 5-6 year olds: Connor’s Tabitha Von Meow page, #1 in 7-8 year olds: Abri’s Ms Birdy page and #1 in 9-10 year olds: Katherine’s Dr. Quack page.
  • Most Webkinz: Shelby with 47 (you had to prove this so people might have had more but they didn’t have the documentation)

This was so much fun, Mandy is so wonderful to have done this – and she even promoted the blog to people!

-Michelle & Hayley

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Photo: Kelsey wins crown!

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Jeff’s cousin Kelsey was crowned Miss Amboy. Amboy is a town outside of Chicago where the Hillisons’ family farm and graveyard are located. Kelsey is Jeff’s cousin – her dad Rory is the brother of Jeff’s dad John. Hayley adores Kelsey and her older brother Ryan.

Kelsey Miller (left) celebrates with last year’s winner Bethany Wittenauer after being crowned Miss Amboy on Thursday in Amboy, Ill. The town, about 110 miles west of Chicago, is holding its annual Depot Days. (Sauk Valley Newspapers photo by Philip Marruffo / August 23, 2007)

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Michelle & Hayley make it onto CNN.com!

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Yeah for REAL, Hayley’s photo and Michelle’s words are on CNN’s website! They were doing a special on Harry Potter and asked for good quality photos of kids in HP gear. So I sent them a really good one from Halloween. They CALLED me on Monday to talk to me about it all.

And then whammo, we are in the gallery of photos and the story!

Turns out they picked seven photos for the gallery and Hayley’s photo was one the seven posted! She is #3.

Check it out:
CNN.com I-Report: You look just like Harry Potter

And then read the story where they quote me AND use Hayley’s photo as the featured photo, I-Reporters show their love for all things Harry Potter

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Hayley and Michelle’s folks in the newspaper!

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Hayley and my folks were interviewed at the U.S. Women’s Open by the Wilmington Star News and Hayley made the newspaper!! I posted the full article and bolded the parts about Hayley and my parents.

Click here to see the article on the Wilmington Star News website or read it below:

Golf, fans and good times meet at Southern Pines

By Dan Spears
and Brian Mull,
dan.spears@starnewsonline.com

Southern Pines | Turning the dogleg corner of the fairway, the typical USGA championship scene is in front of the players.

A green surrounded by large grandstands on three sides. White corporate tents rising out of the sky in the background. Fans cramming every nook and cranny of the green, while thousands more parade in and out the main entrance in the distance.

At Pine Needles this year for the U.S. Women’s Open, there is an added feature: the 15th tee.

Because of the resort’s tight layout surrounding the 18th green, the tournament’s main hub of activity is behind the 14th green and spills out to the southwest corner of the property.

But the large crowds remain the same. Women in sun dresses sip mixed drinks in the shade. Teenagers in flip-flops. Two men in “Redneck Yacht Club” T-shirts on the way to a sunburn while enjoying what is clearly not their first beer of the day – at 11:30 a.m.


Chapel Hill resident Gordon Perry, a PGA teaching pro (“now retired,” he added with a knowing nod), his wife, JoAnne, and granddaughter Hayley Hillison had just settled into a shady spot just off the 15th tee.

“We’ve been coming year after year,” Gordon said. “Coming in at No. 1 is more impressive.”

The Perrys said they had found their spot for the day, which was just fine with 9-year-old Hayley, who took her first golf lesson last week.

“I hit it about 100 yards,” Hayley said. “I think it’s pretty cool to watch them. It’s my first time.”

And in the end, even at the far reaches of the course, it’s about the golf. Annika Sorenstam’s putt for par drew the largest ovation.

“I’m coming to watch Michelle Wie,” Hayley said matter-of-factly. “And I came to watch the girl in the pink. But I can’t remember her name right now.” (It’s Paula Creamer.)

Strange company

Candie Kung owns the same oversized staff bag as most of the other tour professionals. Hers, however, has the most intriguing sponsor.

In broad letters down the side is a plug for Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers. It’s on the bag strap as well.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Kung is a friend of Tom Hicks, who owns the Rangers and Dallas Stars of the NHL. Hicks sponsors all of Kung’s travel expenses in exchange for his teams’ names on her bag and clothing.

I’m sorry, who?

Every year at an Open, a name pops onto the leaderboard that sends the media scrambling for its bio book.

This year, it’s Kris Tamulis.

She hit 13 greens in regulation and made only one bogey Friday afternoon in an even-par round that left her at 1-over par for the tournament and in the hunt for a stunning first LPGA title.

“I think U.S. Opens kind of set up good for me because I just hit it down the fairway and then I hit it in the middle of the green and I make a putt every once in awhile,” Tamulis said.

She was a three-time all-ACC performer at Florida State, but she has good vibes in the Sandhills, making the semifinals of the 2003 North and South after her senior season with the Seminoles.

She also, apparently, is a jokester – including whistling and Golden Girls reruns in her list of hobbies.

Because they shoot the lowest scores

There are 35 South Korean golfers in the field this week.

In-Bee Park, the leader in the clubhouse at even-par 142, has an American flag beside her name. However, she grew up in South Korea and moved to the U.S. with her family when she was 12 years old to concentrate on golf.

Park, whose first name means “queen of virtue” in Korean, said she began playing the game in 1998, at age 10, inspired by Se Ri Pak’s victory in the Women’s Open. She said many of her friends also took up the sport around the same time.

She’s also tired of answering the question of why the Korean golfers are so good.

“I don’t know,” Park said. “I guess they work really hard, maybe it’s in their blood.”

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