Thanksgiving in Iowa

We were lucky enough to make it to Iowa for Thanksgiving this year.  We had great weather both ways for travel - no storms to speak of.  This is almost unheard of, especially in late November.  It was quite frigid, but all in all, we can't complain.  Our kids were troopers in the car as well.  So, we started and ended the trip quite well.  How did the middle of our trip end up? I must say quite well.  We relaxed a lot, ate a lot, and spent a lot of time with family.  What could be better?  When I asked the girls what their favorite part about the trip was, their list was quite long.  Ha ha.  I guess they had lots of favorite parts.  I was terrible at remembering to get the camera out, but we actually did quite a bit. We played games, went to play tag at Papa's work, played some basketball at the church, went Black Friday shopping, bowling, some ventured to the park in sub-zero temperatures, had sleep-overs, Papa and Grandmas watched the kids while the parents went to the movie, and much, much more I'm sure.

 Claire and Mals loved playing Pollys at Grandma's house.

 Jaren loved sneaking Grandma's IPad.

 Playing games on Thanksgiving day.  Look at Brennan being a bomber.  I'm glad he did it though since I might not have captured him otherwise. 

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 I was worried that with these two's strong personalities there might be some major tension.  Thankfully, they got along quite well.  Or at least they avoided each other so we didn't notice the tension. 

 Jaren loved baby Declan!  He was however quite surprised to learn he came out of Rachel's tummy.  He exclaimed, "You mean she ate the baby?"  "Her mouth isn't big!"   I guess we have a little explaining to do in this area.  Here he is having Papa lay Declan on his back.  Jaren is one interesting character.

 Snuggling with my baby.  Photo courtesy of Brennan.

 Uncle Rich is by far the "fun one".  He is always waay to willing to give in to these crazy kids' ideas.  He hosted a "Chopped" challenge two times this vacation.  Here are some of the kids with their final creations and some shots during all the action.

 Thanks for allowing us to invade your homes and your holiday.  We love you all and miss you.