Grandma and Grandpa Elton came on Wednesday of this week to spend Thanksgiving with us!

It was so much fun to see them and have them in our home. Grandpa got to read books to Beth and Benjamin. . .

We visited a lot and, of course, ate lots of great food! We even had homemade pies. Sarah made us some apple pies and Mariah made pumpkin. It was so fun to have them help!

 

Grandma and grandpa even took Kevin and I out for Indian food on Friday! Yum, yum! We didn't do any shopping on Black Friday, but Savannah worked 8-2 at her little store because of it. Sarah and Megan got in on the action, too, since friend Allyson wanted them to come with her to the mall. They were out the door at 7 and spent the next six hours at the mall. They had a great time, going in every store in the mall and taking advantage of the free hot chocolate and being giddy and silly.  They even provided us with some entertainment that evening by singing the preamble.  You can even watch if you want!

 

Grandma and Grandpa left us on Saturday. We are missing them already and can't wait to see them again!

 

They probably shouldn't have left us since on Saturday night we got the crazy idea in our heads that we should give Ben his first haircut. Even though we have been parents for almost 16 years now, this was something that we had never done before! Lucky for us that Ben likes all things that make loud noises (such as hair clippers) and sits very still to watch such things. Also lucky for us that he is way too young to care how short his hair was when we were done! It turns out that he is cute no matter what we do to him! Lucky again! Hopefully we will get better with practice, too, ya think?

 

Mariah's birthday is on Tuesday, but since our week is going to be busy, we decided to celebrate on Sunday over at Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik's house, as is traditional! We had a lasagna dinner, opened presents, and ate cake amid the balloons and banners. Mariah is going to be eleven years old! She is so responsible, though, that sometimes I think she is that old already! We love that girl and are so glad to have her as part of our family and happy to get a chance to celebrate her on her birthday!