Illinois Time

Has it been another 10 days yet?  No?  Well good!  We have had such a busy few days, and in fact, I took a total break from my computer for 3 whole days!  It felt so good.  What have we been up to?  Well celebrating this beautiful girl's 18th birthday and High School Graduation!

That's our niece Emily and she is wonderful!  One of the most beautiful and Godly women I know! We were so blessed to spend two whole days with the Schumacher's preparing for the party and celebrating!

That's Chrissy and Karina, two of Alex's sisters, and two wonderful people.  Honestly, it is such a joy to spend time with them!  They have graciously agreed to stay with us after the baby comes to help out!

We spent all day in the kitchen on Friday preparing, mixing up these delicious salads!

Karina also had Portillo's Italian Beef sandwiches and a Chicago Dog stand for the over 100 guests!

I have definitely enjoyed some Portillo's Italian Beef this week!  Shhh...don't tell! But for dinner at the party I just took a sample of all the delicious salads!

This is our other beautiful niece with her mom.  Jessi also had a big week!  She got her driver's license!  Somehow the nephews escaped most photos...but we did manage to grab a wonderful family photo.

All of Alex's family was there including his Grandma and Dad.  They left pretty early to get the Grandma's home, and they left in style!

That would be my favorite picture from the week, however we came across some photo albums and found this!

Little Alex!  Our children are going to be stinkin' cute!

We had such a nice time in Illinois, and sadly it is time to move on.  This morning we were up at 6am and on the road.  Finally we have reached the tail end of our trip and crossed the Mississippi into Missouri.

Time for one last adventure!  

See you back in North Carolina!