And the trip to grandpa's farm

We traveled to Jerry's parents' house in MO for Thanksgiving.

Crowded van,  carsick babies, lost shoes, squabbling siblings = Looong trip

 We were pretty happy to finally see this house. 

Missouri always looks so pretty, especially coming from the dry, dusty southwest, and there's always a little part of us that starts to fantasize about what it would be like to move back, get a farm and let the kids run free.
But only for 2 minutes.
Cause that's about how long it takes to remember the ticks, and the chiggers, and the humidity, and the clouds, and the when it's not hot it's cold and vise/versa, and so on and so forth.

 It's still a great place to visit though and to kids it's an absolute paradise.

 Yep...that would be grass.

 

 Look at those grins!
I know, I know...no life jackets, but the density of that muddy pond wouldn't let anyone sink even if they tried.

We were so happy that Jerry's entire family, all 4 siblings and all their kids could be together for Thanksgiving.

Everyone

and Jerry's parents and siblings

They roasted the turkey in a hole that they had dug, filled with hot coals, and then covered for several + hours.

It was delicious!

As was grandma's dressing...the absolute best!

And let's not forget the homemade rolls and pies!

These guys kept an eye on things and made sure no one but themselves snitched any food.

As you can imagine, we did plenty of this:

and this:

 and this:

and this:

and some people even did this:

Not me though.

Not on your life.


At some point someone found this:

which was almost, but not quite, as spectacular as Judah Biruk's grin when he finally found some boots to wear.

Jerry's beautiful mom and sisters; amazing women, all three!

Great times, wonderful memories, and lots of love!