Thankful in Chicago

This year, we celebrated Thanksgiving in Chicago, Illinois.

We bundled up, walked festive streets and made so many special memories together.

Our first adventure was at the Field Museum:

We toured the Underground exhibit and experienced life in the soil. There were lots of opportunities to show the kids what impact farming has on the environment that is hiding right under their feet.

They also tried different instruments from around the world, saw how ancient cultures harvested corn from an arid field and ground it into flour (Abigail's favorite!), and tried to pull a life-size block from an Egyptian pyramid (no budging it).

Chicago held so many great experiences:

We visited a German Christmas market, peeked into the window displays at the old Marshall Fields, looked at amazing architecture, and spun around and around in lots of doorways!

After walking about 1,000,000 miles in two days, we thought about taking a taxi back to our hotel the last night. Then, we saw a better option:

The horse drawn carriage ride may have only lasted for about 20 minutes, but the memories are sure to last for a very long time!

Knowing that we would be traveling, we had made reservations at a restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner. The menu was set for the holiday, so it was pretty much a (pleasant) surprise as they brought each family style course to our table. Before each course, we each thanked God for a specific blessing.

Here is our family's list for 2009:

Bruchetta appetizers: we thanked God for Thanksgiving dinner with our family, moving to Virginia, living on a farm, traveling to Arizona for Christmas, our family

House salads: the opportunity to raise food for people, a year of health for our family, our family, that we are traveling together in only one car for this road trip, our family.

Turkey and Ham main course: our marriage, our marriage, spending our days learning and working together this year, being born in our family, dancing.

Apple crostini & cream puff desserts: farming in Virginia, that God made us a family, that we have friends, our family, a personal relationship with Christ Jesus!