JJ & KK's wedding

I flew out to Chicago for my cousin's wedding Oct 27th. JJ and Katelyn got married in a beautiful church downtown followed by a reception at the Chicago History Museum. No detail was left untouched as Katelyn is a planner and she did an amazing job. I'm so happy for the two of them, it's obvious they were meant for each other and are very much in love. Of course the wedding was the highlight of the weekend, but the rest didn't fall far behind. I flew out Thursday morning with my Mom and Dad as Brian sadly was unable to get out of call. We stayed with Dick and Linda Thursday night and had a nice dinner with them and Maureen. It had been years since I'd been in Geneva, so it brought back a lot of memories from my childhood. Friday we checked into our hotel and helped Maureen set up for the rehearsal dinner. It was at Harry Caray's and they rented a room upstairs to host about 85 people! The theme was "Wrigley Field" since that was where they had their first date. A lot of thought went into this dinner and it turned out great. There were cracker jack boxes with our name and table #, a surprise guest (their favorite beer vendor that serves them at the Cubs games), a 7th inning stretch were we sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", but with words about Katelyn JJ and of course many toasts, including the traditional presentation of the bar boy. Maureen and Kim put together a video with pictures of JJ and Katelyn growing up that was really cute. Then after the rehersal dinner (at midnight!) Mom, Dad and I weren't quite ready for bed, so we closed down a piano bar not far from Harry Caray's. That was a blast. Sunday JJ and Katelyn invited everyone to one of their favorite bars to watch the Bear's game and cap off the weekend. I flew out at 4:00 and arrived in Portland to my beautiful family. They surprised me in the airport with the kids in their Halloween costumes. Of course I cried, they looked so precious standing there. It was a wonderful weekend seeing everyone and being a part of my cousin's special day, but I really missed my family!!!