A Thanksgiving of FIRSTS

This Thanksgiving was a Thanksgiving of FIRSTS for Mike and I.

(This is long, with lots of pictures. I apologize.)

FIRST: PIE NIGHT.

Some people in our ward get together for a pie party the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. They figure you are usually so full on Thanksgiving you don't get to enjoy the pie, so why not eat pie the night before so you can truly enjoy it? We enjoyed eating all kinds of pie without being too full from a turkey dinner. What an INGENIOUS IDEA!

FIRST: My FIRST Turkey Trot.

Mike's FIRST road race, and ever running 5 (8K) miles in a row.

It was a lovely 32 degrees with wind chills in the 20's and snow flurries. You can tell we are so excited to run the Turkey Trot. We had a blast running the race, but we realized runners are CRAZY! Why do runners get up early on their day off to run in the freezing cold and snow? I guess because we love it!
Our hot shirts from the Turkey Trot. I think we've established a new tradition of running a Turkey Trot every Thanksgiving morning.

FIRST: First time eating Thanksgiving dinner with friends.

We've always had Thanksgiving with family, but since being with family wasn't possible this year we were blessed to be invited to Thanksgiving with the Hunts.
The meal was delicious! Tara was an amazing cook! We felt so lucky to spend Thanksgiving with them. Although we missed family we felt "at home" being with the Hunts.

FIRST: The Lighting of the Christmas Tree downtown Chicago.

Friday night Mike and I decided to go downtown for the big Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Daley Plaza. We had no idea what a big event this was!

The tree lighting ceremony had a choir, the news was there, the mayor spoke and there was even a Christmas queen. The tree was spectacular!

There were even fireworks! (So sorry for the nostril shot)

FIRST: Caroling at the BEAN.

After the Tree Lighting Ceremony we made our way over to the famous bean sculpture for caroling. Every Friday night a different choir sings at the bean sculpture, people are invited to sing along and enjoy free hot chocolate!

The choir was excellent and it was so much fun to sing along with them!

A cool shot of us at the bean. Although it is blurry, there is a neat reflection of the city on the bean.
Just a random picture of the busy life of Chicago.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We missed family but felt blessed to be surrounded by friends! We are really looking forward to being at home for Christmas. Less than 4 weeks!!