Thanksgiving - early

This post is a little late, but here it is. The Sunday after the Iowa Hawkeye football game, Heather's family got together in Ankeny for an early Thanksgiving.
The cousins were excited to play and got started right away.
Uncle Chad was chasing them, so they hid behind me trying to find safety.

Good plan, he will never see you guys back here...

...oh no! He found us...tickle fight!

Keeping clear from all the wrestling, Auntie Heather plays with Aaron.

These three are really good at using their imaginations. This time, they were all cheetahs and running really fast!

...and they are off and running, Nathan and Maggie jump out to the front of the pack.

...followed closely by Gracie.

...and then Karys.

After a few laps, Nathan started to catch up to Karys. She was at a slight disadvantage having to run and hold up her pants!

Meanwhile, Chad and Aaron were chilling on the couch. The "blond tornado" didn't want to be left out of the picture, so he ran over just in time!

The Pella V.L.'s hanging out on the couch.

...add Karys and Gracie and you get a couch full of fun!

This was actually a rare photo, 4 of the 5 cousins, all sitting together and not running!

Gracie shows us her "big girl" skills holding baby Aaron.

Addyson woke up just in time to hang out with Shay.

With a simple cowboy hat, Nathan transformed into Cowboy Nathan!
...complete with Karys as his "Giddy Up, Partner"

Heather and Aaron discuss what they are both thankful for this year.

Addy, learning from her big sister Karys, has two fingers in her mouth while she and Heather smile for the camera.

Addy and I are all smiles as we celebrate Thanksgiving!

After a while, we noticed that it was rather quiet upstairs. Realizing that the kids had gone downstairs to play, Heather and I went downstairs to investigate. All three of them had crawled into bed and were reading bedtime stories to each other. Gracie, being the motherly figure, was having Karys and Nathan take turns reading their books!

Auntie Heather got them give us their best silly face!
We had a great time hanging out and celebrating Thanksgiving. There is so much that both Heather and I are thankful for this year and at the top of the list is family!

Go Hawkeyes!

Saturday morning, Chad, Shay, Rob, Brent, Heather and I loaded up and went to the last Iowa Hawkeye home football game of the season. Erin, Rob's wife, couldn't join us because she is an assistant cross country coach for Dordt College and got the opportunity to travel with the team to the NAIA National Cross Country meet in Washington. Brent was her fill in for the day. We met up with Chad and Shay in Kellogg and loaded up in their mini-van for some mega-fun! Brent enjoyed the dvd feature with personal headphones!
Heather and I were super excited because this would be our first ever experience at a Iowa Hawkeye football game!

We made it to Iowa City and found a great place to park and tailgate! First things first...a quick pit stop at the Port Jonny.

After a car ride of convincing, we finally got Brent to take off his navy blue coat and put on something black and gold!

The egg bake got two thumbs up, complete with soy milk and 1/3 of it without cheese.

Brent, Chad and I enjoying the egg bake before the game.

Our tailgate crew!

After breakfast, we made our way to...

...Kinnick Stadium!

...and then found our seats!

These seats were amazing! North end zone, front row. I can't say enough about how good our seats were!

Heather and Shay are all smiles before the game gets underway, and yes that is the field in the background!

The marching band gives us a little pre-game show.

Here come the Hawkeyes!

Even though Heather and I aren't big Hawkeye fans, we can't help but have fun!

Herky the Hawkeye proudly waving the Hawkeye flag as the Minnesota players come out on the field.

...and the game is underway!

From where we are standing, I feel like I am a part of the huddle!

...and I think Kirk Ferentz might have been looking at me for play options.

Kinnick Stadium was completely filled up!

Iowa with the ball...

...they keep moving it down the field (towards us).

...getting close to the end zone.

...and the hand off for the touchdown!

And Herky came by giving us all high-fives as the first half ended!

Our friend, Derek was also at the game. We saw him before the game started as he was walking to his seat. At half time he sent me a txt msg, so I turned around to see the one guy standing up in the crowd...D.P.!

The marching band played "Thriller" complete with dancing around and walking like zombies!

Here is the whole crew...still smiling, we even got a smile out of Brent!

...and here come the Hawkeyes for the start of the second half!

Iowa's incredible defense was put to the test with 1st and goal for the Golden Gophers...

...and Iowa held 'em for all 4 downs!

As the game ended, Iowa won 12 - 0 and the fans rushed the field, we followed suit and walked out onto the field!

Rob gave me a thumbs up as he jogs on the turf!

...and all the Iowa fans!

All in all, we had a great time! From the egg bake to the awesome seats to the great company to the Hawkeyes winning, it was a memorable first experience at Kinnick Stadium! Big thanks to Rob for getting the tickets, to Chad and Shay for driving, to Heather for the egg bake and to Brent for the laughs! Go Hawkeyes!