A Birthday Farewell

Today marked the end of the fastest week in 2008! As I am posting this, our Chicago family is headed back home, and we are reflecting on a wonderfully busy visit despite the snow that kept us pretty much housebound until today. David started off the morning stirring up a batch of Snowman Soup with recipe and ingredients provided by Pat Winter. I doubt she knew how happy she'd make one little guy who was a little grumpy when he got up. Thanks, Pat!
Yummylicious!
After we all got dressed, we left our driveway without a struggle for the first time in days and met our two older kids at a nearby restaurant for brunch because it was Auntie's birthday. Yesterday I baked a Cocoa Cola Cake, our traditional birthday feast, while Sophia napped. (I woke up around midnight on Friday feeling absolutely wretched and spent the whole day sleeping off some kind of bug. That plus the fact that we got another 8" of snow caused us to cancel the Open House scheduled for yesterday.) So while I baked, everyone else went to the Museum of Flight, the only outing since Tuesday, except for Christmas Eve when only Dick and I went to join the choir in singing at 3 services. The restaurant very kindly allowed us to serve the cake for dessert! (I did ask.)
Happy Birthday, Auntie!
We've had a fun and hectic week that was made possible by the generosity of our two younger children who pooled their miles to bring their sister's family home. Isn't it fun when kids grow up and get along? We feel truly blessed to have spent this time together.
Fooling around with Uncle