Sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with the entire Des Moines family

On Tuesday we made the long car ride to Des Moines, Iowa for Thanksgiving. Jude and Anna had the entire week off from school and were very excited to see everyone again. It took just over 10 hours door to door which was not bad.

This trip was not just about Thanksgiving, Jude and Anna both got to celebrate their birthdays again. As Baba does every year, she bakes a cake in the shape of the number they are turning.

Happy to be Five…and to have cake!

Seven candles on Jude’s “7” cake

On Thanksgiving night we did something really cool. We all went to a local lake where we lit paper lanterns and watched as they floated high in the sky. The kids were all mesmerized by these things. Once the air in these “balloons” was hot enough the kids let them go and they sailed hundreds of yards into the sky.

Jude setting his hot air balloons into the air while Anna looks up at hers.

It was a chilly but festive Thanksgiving night.

The visit was over all too quickly and we arrived back in Denver on Saturday night. Today was a beautiful day so it was spent in the yard running around and doing some yard work. And we all watch the Bronco game in the afternoon – well Jude and Anna watched the fourth quarter with me.

Anna filled her little wheelbarrow with dirt because she was making clay.