December 21st we started out trek to Illinois to celebrate Christmas with our families as we have done every year since we moved away about 8 years ago...
Our seasoned traveler
Flying to Illinois this time of year is always questionable, and with the weather they had been having, we knew we could be in for a bumpy ride. Still, we headed to the airport hoping our flight out would be unchanged. Unfortunately, it wasn't...
Which led to this-
...airport wrestle housing. And ultimately this-
Which is a rare site on an airplane these days.
Finally we made it to Midway, I think only about an hour or so later then scheduled, and we were ready to start the festivities. This year was so special because Brad and Sarah were able to fly in from California and spend some time with both her family and with us. Laurie was home from school, we were in, and the whole clan was together. Grandma Sylvia and Papa Bob hosted us at their new house the day before Christmas Eve which was such a treat-
And clearly there was no shortage of laughs :)
Christmas Eve we spent the day with the McGinnis clan over at Casa de McGinnis in Elburn. They were hosting the big McGinnis Family Christmas this year and we all wanted to be there to help get ready. It was such a special time being in the kitchen with the ladies while the guys...well... played Madden and honestly didn't contribute much ;) But it was nice to all be together and it was great to see Owen with all of his cousins and extended family. There was even a special visit from Santa before he started his rounds that night. Robert went downstairs to tell the kids that he heard Santa's bells, and Owen led the charge yelling, "SANTA!" and ran upstairs. All of the kids anxiously looked out the front door to see Santa walking up through the snow ringing his bells. As soon as Santa was within earshot Owen declared his need for criss-cross-crash cars and followed closely as Santa went to find a chair.
Even Aunty Sarah was excited to see Santa :)
Finally Christmas Day arrived and Owen woke up at a modest 6:30am to start the fun. He did, of course, find that Santa brought him his criss-cross-crash track along with many other wonderful gifts.
We stayed at my parents house the rest of the day and shared a nice Christmas meal with Grandma Sylvia and Papa Bob, Uncle Scott and Uncle Jason. Before wrapping up the evening, we snapped a few group photos-
What a wonderful Christmas filled with so many great memories and so much fun!
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