NCA trip-- 2009 (see pictures below as well)

Hi Everyone--

Just a quick update about our trip to South Bend/Chicago. Roger, Emmy, Ellie-Kate, and I left last Tuesday (11/10/09) for the annual NCA conference in Chicago. We stayed in the Inn at Saint Mary' s along the way, and we were treated as "Guests of the Night," receiving a free room upgrade as well as some small gifts. We went over to University Park Mall, had dinner in the food court, and bought a few items of clothing for Emmy. Wow-- how odd to be in SB w/o Britti!!

On Wednesday morning, we took Ellie-Kate through the SMC campus for the first time, stopping to take a pic in front of the Marion McCandless statue by McCandless Hall (Britti's home for four years). After driving up to Chicago, we checked into our room at the Chicago Hilton (praise God for Roger's Hilton Honors membership so that we could upgrade into a larger room).

During Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Roger and I juggled professional commitments with caring for the girls and treating them to trips to various museums (including the Field Museum, the Children's Museum, Shedd's Aquarium, and the Planetarium). The girls also had a BLAST with playing ball on the lower level of the Chicago Hilton by the book display area-- something that we got to do almost every night. We had a super time with visiting with old friends from other schools and attending events at the conference.

On Sunday, we made the 10 1/2 hour trip back to Athens, stopping at Ponderosa in South Bend for lunch with the grandmas. We had a great time as we celebrated Great-Grandma's birthday, chatted about the trip, and gave Grandma B. and Great-Grandma a chance to catch up with the girls.

Although Chelsea and Britti couldn't come due to school commitments and Chelsea's engagement with the Symphonic Choir to sing the National Anthem at the OU basketball game, they bonded at home and managed to keep all of our pets alive and well in our absence. We were all glad to see each other upon our return to Athens on Sunday, November 15, around 10 p.m.

Hope that everyone is gearing up for a great holiday season! We listened to Christmas music for the first time yesterday, and we're ready to start decorating right after Thanksgiving, if not before.

More very soon--

Christie