Girl's Trip Chicago 2009 (minus a few girls)

Since I don't have to keep it a secret any longer.....here are our pictures from our Chicago trip. Jill got a wild hair, and decided we needed to fly to Chicago and surprise our sister Keli for Christmas, so we did! AND, we (along with many other of you) kept it a secret the whole time.

Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of the look on her face when we showed up at the restaurant, but the cost of the plane tickets were totally worth it! That look was completely priceless!
Driving into Chicago Saturday morning. This is such a cool city. This was before Jill almost ran a red light and almost hit some Pedestrians.

Beside to see Keli and her family, this is the whole reason we came to Chicago. This was the restaurant we ate at with my mom 2 years ago when we came to see Wicked. There may have been only three of us this time, but mom was with us, because we sat at the EXACT same table, and after 2 years, had the EXACT same waiter! It brought tears to our eyes.

Michigan Avenue at night, and Christmas time. It was fabulous!

Me, in front of the Chicago River. It was so cold! (Notice the nice scarf. It was Keli's Christmas present to me, but I forgot mine. I just broke it in for her. :) )

The 3 girls. We had to get at least one picture of the 3 of us together. Thanks to Keli's white coat, we were never separated.

Jill and I with the kids. They were so excited to see us, but I think Jill and I were more excited to see them. They have grown up SOOOO much!

Us again. This was just before leaving so our eyes aren't red and puffy yet. It is so fun to go, but the worst part is that we have to leave! I miss The Clayton's SO much! Sean was so sweet to be with us with our little plan, and even went a little further, and planned us a night in the city. We stayed in a beautiful hotel, and Sean made sure we were taken care of. We even crashed HIS birthday dinner, so, thanks again, Sean, you are the best!

No girl's trip will ever be complete without our sister Kelli. I say sister, cause she might as well be! She is just as much family as we are, and there is never a time I can remember being without her. We missed her so much, but know that this will not be the last of our trips. Kelli, you were definitely with us in spirit, and we talked about you all the time. Good things, of course. :)

This was the first trip without my mom. It was hard. We talked about her so much, and reminisced about all the good times we had. We are so lucky to have been blessed with her, even if it was for the short time we had her. It was so great to be together and see how much each one of us is like her in different ways. We know she was watching out for us, and smiling that we were spending time all together. That was the one thing she loved more than anything else, spending time with her family. She taught us well.

We had a wonderful time, and I can't wait for the next one! Love you guys SO much. Thanks again for being my sisters.