Thanksgiving in Chicago

We made it to Chicago for another Thanksgiving - it's hard to believe my family has been making the trek for 21 years now. We arrived about an hour before everyone else which gave us just enough time to get changed before everyone started to arrive - I don't know how Aunt Mary does it - she had 61 in attendance this year! I don't think we could tell you half the people who were there - I can't believe how fast the kids grow up!

I'm pretty sure Phoebe was a hit - Auntie Kate loved getting to spend some one-on-one time with her too!

Katie's friend, Josh came since his home in Texas was a bit too far to get to for the short holiday. He hit it off with everyone, and had a special connection with Jessica.

Skip & Gayle's youngest daughter, Cassiday, became fast friends with Phoebe. We even got to go clothes hunting in her closet before we left - it's so fun to have older girl cousins and inherit some of their clothes!

Yanni and Alexi were able to come this year - their family lives in Greece so we don't see them very often - it was good to catch up with them.

Phoebe loves her uncle so much she wore a shirt just for him that said, "My Uncle Steve is kind of a big deal." It was hard to get a picture with all the words showing so you'll just have to take my word for it!

We also got to participate in Aunt Mary's birthday celebration. The kids made a cookie jar for their Michigan beach house and filled it up with love letters. What a sweet idea (I'll probably steal it when my kid(s) are old enough to write!).

Here's a picture of those two teeth that are slowly but surely making their way into Phoebe's mouth.

Saturday, we had to keep with tradition and make our way downtown before heading home. Josh had never been to the Windy City so we made a few of the main stops (Millenium Park, Garrett's Popcorn, Michigan Avenue, etc.). Here we all are at the bean:

The Wrigley Building:

We stopped at Portillo's for lunch and since Santa was there, we decided to give him a try. The last week or two, she's decided she doesn't care much for strangers...

So after Santa, we headed back home to Indy. We had to be up bright and early the next morning since the Wallis family was lighting the Advent Candle at church all three services. We took Phoebe in her pjs and got her dressed in time for the 8:00 service (she kicked over one of the candles, luckily not the lit one) and we breezed through the other two without a hitch. Lots of people came up to us afterwards to tell us what we already know, that we have a darling daughter. I can't believe it's December already - I need Christmas ideas, everyone!!!