Iowa Thanksgiving

Okay, so, this Thanksgiving I didn't see any family. But, seeing these photos from the amazing trip Matt & Stina had with Merete and Finn in Iowa almost makes up for that... above are the "D.C. Oakes"... my YOUNGER brother, Matt with his lovely wife Stina and their munchkins & my wonderful most treasured niece and nephew, Merete & Finn. Below, here, Merete trys her hand at taking care of the fields on a tractor. I love this photo in particular because at her age I recall sitting on my Dad's tractor in Texas (yes, small town girls....)....
According to reports, Merete was able to ride a horse, in a tractor, collect chicken eggs and milk a cow over the holiday while Finn was simply passed between one loving family member to the other. Matt shot skeet and the family took lots of walk and had lots of talks. Below is Merete with her second-cousin on the Kasik side, Morgan. Love the helmet!!
And, you've gotta always have the photo in the cowgirl hat!!
The funniest thing Matt told me was, Merete thought that the baby chicks were inside the eggs just sitting there, ready to hatch... so, when they went to crack the eggs for breakfast the morning after collecting them, she was SHAKING with excitement anticipating the baby chick to pop out and peep at her! I wish I'd been there to see that... so funny!!
The photo above is Stina's Mom, Dot, with her grandkids... Little Finn looks like he wants to terrorize his sister in this photo. I wonder what's going on in his little head...
The photo of the fam, above, cracks me up because little FINN looks so uncomfortable in his carrier. So sorry I missed the farm hi-jinx!! Gobble, gobble.