Turkey Day 2010

Our little navigator on his first road trip to Kansas.

After the turkey at Uncle Roy & Aunt Renee's House in Kansas City.

My cousin Tony's little boy, Jake.  He is my little buddy and I wish I could be around him more.  When we got to their house, he was outside and was yelling, "Kayla's here!  Kayla's here!"  Warmed my heart.

 

Every year on Thanksgiving night, we head down to the Country Club Plaza in KC.  A massive crowd gathers.  Christmas music blares.  Everyone is bundled up.  A celebrity comes out on the stage.  They grab a random child from the crowd.  The countdown begins...10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...and....

 

That's what you get.  At the flick of a switch, 80 miles of Christmas lights (about 280,000 bulbs) light up the plaza.  This is what marks the beginning of my Christmas season and I was so glad that Luis was there to share it with me this year.

 

We even took Tanner.  He liked being so warm and cozy.  Pretty sure he was the warmest one out of the five of us.  However, he did help to make a memory that I won't share on here.  :-)

 

The celebrities that turn on the lights are people who are from the KC area.  Some of the ones from the past have been Tony Gonzalez, George Brett, Kate Spade, David Cook, Trent Green, Chris Sadakis, and so forth.  This year we got to watch two running backs from the Chiefs: Thomas Jones and Jaamal Charles lead the countdown.  That's them up there in the picture in the leather jacket (Charles) and on the far left (Jones).

 

After the lights come on and the Christmas spirit has filled all of us, we head to my absolute favorite KC BBQ place...GATES!!

Then it's home to Topeka.