Every year, the National Turkey Federation chooses two turkeys to send to the Washington to be pardoned by the President of the United States. This year, the turkeys were from Iowa.

In Early, Iowa, the Domino family raised the chosen turkeys, the seventh pair from Iowa to be sent since the tradition began.

Chris Domino says, "I got a phone call in June, asking if I'd like to raise the presidential turkeys for the pardoning, and I said, yeah I sure would, it'd be an honor."

He says it takes a little more to raise presidential turkeys, "Extra time, extra pampering, you know we sat and talked to them where we don't talk to our other turkeys, we'd give them treats, hand feed them, give them baths."

Domino says a lot of credit goes to his dad for helping him get started in raising turkeys, as well as support from his wife and daughters and the Iowa Turkey Federation, "Just a huge honor, coming from small town Iowa, you know, I just don't know how to really describe it."

John Reicks Chairman of the National Turkey Federation says, "It's a really good representation for Iowa and for this family and for the industry."

Domino says the turkeys were chosen from a group by having particularly strong personalities, they're about 18 weeks old, and they had to be trained to be comfortable standing on a podium.

The two turkeys are named Tater and Tot, which was decided by the president this week.

The White House works with the National Turkey Federation to get the turkeys, a tradition going back decades.

Reicks says, "George H. Bush started the pardoning. It actually started as an event under Harry Truman, so it's been 69 years and then if you go back in time, Lincoln actually started some sort of this, but it was never actually continued. So it's got a lot of history."

The turkeys got to the president through a van last Sunday they weren't caged, it was about a two day drive, then Tater and Tot got their own hotel room near the White House.

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the President took the stage. With the Dominos in the audience, he pardoned the turkeys.