Thanksgiving 2013

Wow! I've been MIA from my blog for quite awhile. I really want this to be a little life story I can print for the kids some day so I better get going on keeping up with this!

I'm not going all the way back to where I stopped, but thought Thanksgiving would be a great post to start with (even if it is 2 months late!).

We hadn't been going back home for Thanksgiving since we moved to Illinois because of not wanting to do a back to back 6+ hour drive (one way) with Christmas being only a month later. With so many things happening to family and friends this year, we decided that we wanted to see family a little more when we can.

We did stay in town through Thanksgiving afternoon so we could continue our Turkey Trot tradition and have our own turkey dinner. Noah has really grown to enjoy running and the little kids wanted to do the run as well :)

Turkey Trot - annual family pic

Getting ready to fill our tummies!

About mid afternoon we hopped in the van and headed to my brother's house. Sean hadn't been to his new place after he had moved from town to the country and thought it'd be nice to hang out since we don't run into them as much when we do get back.

The kiddos and cousin Max

The next day we headed to visit Sean's grandparents before landing at my mom's house. We brought pizza to share and watched the end of the Hawkeye game. It was a nice visit. That afternoon at my mom's, Jason, Max, Sean and Madison got the guns out and shot at clay pigeons. It was a first for Madison and I think she enjoyed it.

Sean and Madison after shooting practice.

One of Sean's pics on his way back from a run.

The Hinners Thanksgiving feast was the next day. It was great because the majority of the family made it over. The kids talked Sean and my brother Rodney into playing football outside with them. They had a blast!!! It reminded me of when I was a kid and we always had baseball games back there.

Below is a collage of a few snap shots of family. 

After such a wonderful time with the family on Saturday, we headed to Sean's parents in Creston early Sunday morning. We had an enjoyable time there, too. The kids always love playing with their little dogs :)

Kids decorating for Grandma & Grandpa Clark

The kids with Grandma & Grandpa Clark

It was a great weekend filled with lots of family time! A little tiring squeezing so much in and all the driving, but we loved it! And the kids never get enough of it. As soon as we get in the van, I'm always asked the question, "When are we coming back again?"