Good morning friends.  I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.  The stomach flu was still rearing it's ugly head Wednesday morning and our trip to see my brother's family was in serious doubt.  I put my sister-in-law on notice and then just waited.  Late afternoon, Jeff and I decided to go ahead and book a hotel.  We were suppose to stay with my bro but thought it safer to sleep elsewhere in case things grew ugly.  My bro is still recovering from chemo and there was no way that I wanted to make him sick!  So we went to bed Wed night knowing that the trip depended on whether or not any of us, well, had stomach issues through the night.  I woke up at 4:30 am and realized that we made it through the night!  PTL!!!  So we woke the boys @5 am, packed the van and headed to Chicago.  We had a great visit wih my bro and his family.  My sister in law is a trained chef and she is an artist.  I had fun looking at her art and seeing how she decorated their home.  She is really gifted.

We went into Chicago once.  The kids couldn't believe the amount of people, traffic, and buildings that exist there.  One of the boys commented that the people who live in the city must not even know what a star looks like.  Two of the boys had their excitement turn to dread the longer we lingered.  The crowds and noise made them nervous.  They wanted to get back to the hotel and have peace.  We didn't stay very long because it was very cold.  We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo to see the Christmas lights and then ate at the Rock and Roll McDonalds.  You are thinking :  "You ate at McDonalds with the stomach flu?  Are you crazy?"  Well, it had been 48 hours since the last " incident" and we couldn't afford anything else in the city.  The next day we visited Jeff's college roommate and his family.  Jeff attended Wheaton College.  After touring Wheaten we went one last time to my brother's home.  As we were getting ready to head for home, Jeff discovered the flat tire.  So the boys and I settled back in while Jeff found a Walmart and bought a new tire.  By the time we made it home, it was 2am!  I was a little tired.  We stayed awake by listening to the Narnia series on CD.  So today we get back into our normal routine.  After the flu and the trip I am ready to jump back into that very comforting rut....for now.

God bless you,

Anissa