Christmas in Chicago

We have been cramming in hang-out time with our favorite friends before we leave Chicago for warmer weather. Here is a sampling of our adventures.

1. Dinner @ Volare with Chicago GSB friends

2. Christmas lights at Daley Plaza (aka: the square with the giant Picasso sculpture) with Shanny and John

3. 1st Annual Featherstone Friends Christmas Party and white elephant gift exchange.

Note: We were heartbroken we weren't going to be at the real Featherstone Christmas Party (where the white elephant gift exchange is more of a battle than a game) and we had to have one on our own. We made the cupcakes.

Mike just loves his new tie (his White Elephant gift). If you can't tell, it's a picture of Santa golfing with his reindeer. Where else would you get a tie that cool?

The Feathie Cabin

Thanksgiving at the Featherstone Cabin was hilariously fun. In our quiet Chicago apt I almost forget how much fun & adventure it is hanging out with the Feathies. The first picture is Mike holding baby Emmie, Jon and Shae's new baby. She is the first grandkid and she got a lot of attention; there was always a long list of people wanting to hold her. The second picture is the Feathie kids out for a spin in the Golf Cart. I told you they're crazy! But we love their craziness.

Here are mom and dad Feathie who made sure we ate better over Thanksgiving than we ever eat in Chicago. When we got back to Chicago we had to go on a fruit-&-veggies-only diet for a day to make up for it!

We gave baby Emmie her gift over Thanksgiving (since we are going to CA for Christmas). We decided to be creative and make a few gifts. Here is a pic of one of the gifts for her future room.

Christmas is coming...

Christmas is coming and we can't wait. We (especially Mike) are major Christmas fans. We put up our tree in November. We're going to CA for most of December so we put it up early so we could enjoy it while we are here.

My favorite part of our tree are the ornaments Mike and I made last year. We made them out of black and white pictures.