Thanksmas

We had a great time visiting with family in Michigan. For some reason Robin (8 years old) was the most photographed cousin. I think she and Elliott look alike, so maybe that sparked some energy in my camera. But Elliott enjoyed being with all his cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents. He found Grandma Marcy's dog, Bailey, and the Koch puppy, Toffee, especially amusing.

Also a hit were other people's shoes, including these lovely ruby slippers. Combined with the flannel shirt and jeans, we think they make Elliott a shoe-in for the upcoming casting of Brokeback Mountain: The Pee-Wee Version.

Lately Elliott is pointing to things and people and calling them by name. This has led John to dub Elliott "the shepherd," and, as if to study up the role, Elliott took some turns with Grandma Marcy's cane.

The piano photo features nametags; cousin Jerome loves to label, and after dinner we all got our names written on pieces of lint roll. As you can see, some people ended up trading, getting extra names... Mayhem.

For folks not in the midwest in late November, yes, it really did snow enough for us to go sledding. Elliott wasn't exactly sure what to think about the adventure in blue plastic - didn't love it or protest, but he preferred to just watch his cousins go down the hill.

At the Lawther/Graff home, Elliott enjoyed playing with Jacob and Ruthilah's trains and with a mini football that played "Hail to the Victors" when dropped. Elliott danced and clapped to the song, and, on alternate drops, squealed when the magical ball voice shouted "Let's Go Blue!"

We got some video with Grandma B but no photos; she just visited the previous week and I hadn't even seen those pictures before loading these. I'll have to do an out-of-order posting on that later and will include some updated developmental text with that.