Thanksgiving

This year, Elsa and I spent the entire week of Thanksgiving in Michigan (Bob joined us there on Wednesday evening). This was actually a combined Thanksgiving and Christmas celebration with my side of the family, since Mom and Don are leaving for Florida this week and won't be back until April. And we loved hanging out with Carter (a.k.a. "Ca Ca") all week long!

Elsa and I arrived the Saturday before Thanksgiving, so that we could attend the Pries family Christmas party on Sunday. We made a brave attempt to get all 7 of Mom's and Don's grandchildren into the same picture for their Christmas cards. This photo is a pretty good indication of how successful that was (thanks almost entirely to Elsa and Carter, both of whom seemed to think the world might end if they had to sit still for the entire 45-second photo shoot):

The rest of the week, including Thanksgiving, was pretty low-key. We mostly just hung out, watched basketball and football, watched the babies play, opened Christmas presents, and ate (and ate, and ate). But we did have some serious excitement the day before Thanskgiving (and the day before Elsa's 15-month birthday): Elsa finally took her first steps! She took two or three steps, right in Grandma's kitchen, with Grandma, Ellen, Dave, and Carter all as witnesses. Unfortunately, Bob hadn't yet arrived, but he got to see lots of walking the next day. She was taking at least 5 or 6 steps by herself by the time we left Grandma's. Here are some action shots:

And here are some more photos from the rest of the week:

Elsa tries out Carter's bike. If you're wondering about the stylin' necklace, it's a string of Mardi Gras-type beads that Grandma had on hand, and Elsa loved them—she was wearing those things the entire week.

Playing with several of the week's favorite toys: Frosty, the beads, and the phone. Frosty plays his theme song (loudly and obnoxiously) when a button on the base is pressed, and the babies seemed to think we wanted to hear it continuously, every day, all day.

And because a singing Frosty wasn't enough, Ellen had to bring over a singing Rudolph too.

Carter gets a really fun chair ride from Grandpa.

Elsa, Ellen, and Carter all enjoy some "hahm," as Elsa calls it.

Carter looks like he might actually be eating something in this picture!

Carter and Grandpa fix the toy train after it got derailed for the 8,000th time. We loved Carter's little Lions jersey, even if we had to root against him!

Elsa checks out her tower of presents ... and these are just the ones from the Shaffers!

Elsa got her first real baby doll from Grandma B.

Aunt Ellen feeds Elsa's budding shoe addiction. Elsa also got a Little People Barnyard set, an Elmo bath toy, and a cute outfit that included a pair of pink velvet pants from the Shaffers.

Sorry Grandpa, you are not allowed to have any quiet time!

Grandma reads a book to Elsa. Elsa is officially obsessed with books recently.

We had a really fun visit and Elsa sure does seem to miss Carter now that we're home again. Every time I say his name, she breaks into a huge smile and repeats it back to me: "Ca Ca!" We miss all of you guys!