Grandma and Grandpa (with friends) come to visit!

We are the proud new owners of new bird house, and an exclusive one at that.  Directly from the workshop of Bob Smith!!  Dad built this for us and shipped it to Chicago.

It is a little hard to tell, but the bird house is very big and makes a nice yard ornament.  I love the uniqueness and we are interested to see if it actually becomes inhabited.

Steve and Kris Bideaux joined Bob and Jody on their latest trip to visit us. The first 4 days they would get up and I would drop them off at the train station and they would spend the entire day playing in the city at the museums, eating and shopping.  Wednesday, I actually drove them to the city and we got to go to the Chicago Board of Trade with a family connection of the Bideaux's.  We took Kris to see where she lived when she was 10 and then drove home and met the kids at the pizza place for dinner.

The Chicago friends took us on a quick walking tour of some buildings around the Chicago Board of Trade.  The Rookery Building was designed on the interior by Frank Lloyd Wright.  It was beautiful.

There is gold leafing all over the building.

On Friday, the Bideauxs were flying out in the afternoon, so we discovered a new little place out in Geneva called The Little Traveler.  Cute old mansion that is converted into tons of shopping.  In fact, the entire street is full of fun little shops.  It was a beautiful warm day and a great place to find some perfect Christmas presents!

Reagan was a good sport and was rewarded with her very own $3.00 cupcake!

Bob and Jody were here from 10 days all together.  We always enjoy their time with us!  I don't have a lot of pictures.  I guess we were too busy making candy, playing games and watching basketball to remember to take pictures.  Come again soon!