Isla’s First Thanksgiving

Our little turkey just celebrated her first Thanksgiving- three separate times in fact (not bad for her first year!), and we’re pretty sure if Isla could talk she’d share that she is thankful for the following things:

– milk

– snuggles and chin kisses

– pacifier (aka “ooh ooh”)

– her white noise app

– clean diapers

– hair dryer

– her trees in the backyard

– the back of the sofa… she loves to talk to it!

Modeling her darling Thanksgiving outfit from Nana Sandy.

Needless to say, Isla is the top of our list of things to be thankful for this year. The love and joy she has brought us already is immeasurable!

Per tradition, we hosted the first Thanksgiving celebration, a cozy little gathering with our “Shanghai family”. It was so exciting to be able to host a holiday in our house. We feasted on turkey (This brine is AMAZING, and I think this year’s turkey was our best yet!), mashed potatoes, peas and pickles (sounds weird, tastes delicious!), green bean casserole, roasted veggies, pumpkin bar parfaits, and coconut cake- YUM! It was a lovely evening!

Love this darling free printable I found online!

Uncle Ty reading Isla her first book!

It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a little pre-dinner turkey sampling!

I think Lucas ate more turkey than anyone else! Watching him inhale it was absolutely hilarious! Definitely a highlight of the evening!

After our guests headed home, we continued our little tradition of kicking off the Christmas season by opening our new holiday jammies and watching Home Alone (2012 jammies, 2011 jammies). I went with an Elf theme for our jammies this year.Loving Isaac’s reactions!

A few final snaps of Isla in her darling Gobble Gobble Gobble Thanksgiving onesie.Miller photo bomb.

Our second Thanksgiving celebration was with our wonderful SCIS family. Many of the teachers gather at the school for a flag football game, followed by dinner. We missed the football game this year, because of the Dragon Cup basketball competition, but arrived in time to enjoy another fabulous turkey dinner with our wonderful friends and colleagues. Isla received countless snuggles, and we had a fantastic time visiting with everyone.

Please note the abundance of creepy ‘staches were in celebration of Movember.

Our third Thanksgiving celebration took place on the actual day when we were in Beijing. We joined our friends, the Tebo’s, at their home, along with some of their other sweet friends, for a feast created by a local chef. While not a traditional Thanksgiving meal, it was incredible! We enjoyed a delicious beef roast, salmon, baked ravioli, garlic roasted broccoli, and a decadent chocolate mousse. The bubbly and good conversation were flowing, and it was a truly fantastic evening! Unfortunately I was having such a great time that I failed to take any photos!

Our 2013 Thanksgiving celebrations could not have been better, and we feel so grateful for each other, our beautiful Isla, our good health, our adventurous life, and our amazing family and friends. We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!