Thanksgiving and Holiday Parades....

Whew! What a week! We celebrated Joel's first Thanksgiving on Thursday with my side of the family in Wauseon. Grandma, PawPaw, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jason were there, as well as my Uncle Ted, Aunt Diane, and cousin Nick from Perrysburg. It was good to see them since we hadn't seen all of them since the baptism in May. They couldn't believe how much Joel has changed! Joel was fun that day and even took a brief nap in the pack and play, which was pretty amazing. He ate his turkey baby food and played in the high chair while everyone else ate. We are so incredibly thankful this year to have Joel in our family. The last 8+ months have flown by, and we love him more each and every day. The was truly the best Thanksgiving ever for us. Friday was the Archbold Parade of Lights, and Joel and I got to ride the float for the first time with Aunt Lisa. Joel was wearing the snowman snowsuit that Lisa and Jason gave him, and was supposed to be "Frosty". (Mom is the director of the Fulton County Red Cross and recruited us to ride!) It was SO cold! Joel fell asleep right before the parade started and was pretty cranky when he woke up. He spent most of the looooong parade in the Hummer with Daddy, Uncle Jason, and PawPaw because it was so cold. On Saturday night Wauseon had their parade. We went to that one too, and ate Thanksgiving leftovers at Mom and Dad's house before heading up to the parade. It was much warmer for that parade, and Joel was well rested. He was really cute! He sat up for the whole parade on my lap and seemed to really like all of the lights and the music. He didn't cry at all and was smiling a lot. He thinks he's famous! :0) After that parade we went back to the house for a little while before heading back to Defiance. Tomorrow we are having a "stay home and get something done" day. Joel needs to get back into his regular routine, and we have lots of Christmas preparation ahead! At some point we will need some groceries, but maybe I can put that off until Monday..........Good night!