I've decided celebrating Birthdays & Holidays are WAY more fun when you have a baby experiencing it all for the first time.
First we celebrated Jonathan's 26th Birthday! We went out to eat at Sonora Grill. Jonathan proposed to me there and most of the employees still remember us, so we were excited for them to meet Miss Zella. They all thought she was pretty cute! Zella loved helping Dad open his gifts. She got him a Chocolate Tool Set and I got him a nice pair of casual pants. That night our good friend came over to watch Zella while we went and did sealings for family names at the temple. Perfect way to spend the day with my Birthday Boy!
The next day we had Birthday Dinner with his parents, and his mom made him a yummy cheesecake! Some of his friends at work have been making their own beef jerky, so Jonathan got it into his head that he needed to as well... So he really wanted a meat slicer and dehydrator for his birthday. Well I got in cahoots with his mom and we decided I would get him the dehydrator and she would get him the slicer. I've never seen the boy so happy! Plus the jerky is pretty darn good, and MSG free:)
For Thanksgiving we drove to Richland Washington to spend the week with Jon's oldest sister Elise and her family. They recently moved there so we were really excited to see all of them again. Since the trip is a long one we decided to split it into two days spending the night halfway in Boise. Zella loved taking a bath in the hotel sink! She also seemed to really enjoyed all the attention from her cousins. Sawyer "yoves" Baby Zella! It was so cute to see those two girls together:)
I was pretty impressed with Elise and I... Tackling on a Thanksgiving Dinner and all, but it all turned out SO yummy!! We brought up 2 smoked turkey breasts Matt's Dad did for us, and then I was in charge of the creamed corn, candied yams, and pumpkin cheesecake. I also made a really good bacon ranch cheeseball for an appetizer. Elise made the best rolls, mashed potatoes with gravy, and fruit salad. Plus she made a couple delicious desserts. The boys sat at their own little table, and Beckett ate almost as much as Jon! Zella was napping during our dinner so she had her own little dinner later which was peas and carrots, turkey, yams, and pumpkin applesauce... YUM!
The weather was SO nice on Thanksgiving Day! So we couldn't resist going out to play. Matt even got out the stomp rockets. Pretty soon we all had our coats off, it was that warm!
The weather wasn't so great the rest of the time we were there so we had to resort to things indoors. Besides going out to a movie... Bowling was the only other thing we could think of, so off we went. Zella really loved it!! I don't know if it was because it was so noisy but she squealed the whole time we were there! Also every night after the kids went to bed we enjoyed a movie from the good ol Red Box with Matt & Elise. Friday morning at a decent hour Elise and I went by Target and Walmart to check out what was left for deals. I was able to get some cute stuff for Zella for Christmas.
We had so much fun with the Sleeman Clan:) Thanks so much for letting us come up and spend Zella's First Thanksgiving with you!
