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!