Baby Shane: Thanksgiving Vacation

"Don't touch my banana!!"

Yep, that is Shane eating a banana like a big boy. He is really into doing things himself these days.

Well, I had a lovely 9 DAYS OFF WORK last week, but of course it was jam packed with things to do every day. Ryan and I took Shane to the Harvest Festival in Sacramento and got some lovely Christmas gifts. This is an event we go to every year and it's such a great way to get into the Holiday Spirit!

The next day Mom and I took Shane to Redding to visit with my Mom's cousin (Niki), my 2nd cousin (Monika) and Shane's 3rd cousin (Cooper). Cooper and Shane are 6 weeks apart and we couldn't wait for them to finally meet! The very first afternoon we were there the boys got to see deer in Niki's front yard! They were very excited and of course scared the deer away with their excited screeching pretty quickly. The next day we took them to Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding and they had a great time exploring the river and looking at the big fishies!

"WHOA! Did you see that BIG fish, Mama?!?"

Grandmas love to spoil their Grandsons

Shane exploring the river with his sticks

Cooper and Shane (still with his sticks!)

Cooper is so silly!

Shane loved playing with all of Cooper's toys

Cousins

Shane LOVED playing in all of the leaves

Shane and Cooper in the hats I made for them

They were both DONE with pictures

Shane's expression cracks me up

Then Ryan and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. We got a Willie Bird Turkey and I brined it for the first time. This is when you soak the turkey in a brine for 24 hours and it is supposed to be twice as moist and cook in half the time. Everyone was a bit skeptical of this process since none of us had tried it before, but I am proud to say it turned out PERFECT! (I will post a pic later since it was on our neighbor's camera.) We have many things to be thankful for this year and it was so great to be able to host this special event with our new friends and family.

Tony and Ryan wrestling the turkey

The whole gang before dinner

Shane says "Gobble Gobble!"

The best part was that my brother came out from Las Vegas for Thanksgiving and stayed through the weekend. It was great to get to see him since he won't make it out for Christmas this year. He is expecting a baby girl (Carah) just two weeks after Christmas!! Good luck Cory and Janice!

Shane loves his Uncle Cory :D