These are a few of my favorite things: Birthday Edition

I had 3 days of absolute bliss on Josh's birthday weekend in November. I loved it so much; it felt like it was really my birthday, too!! I don't think I've ever felt that before, but I was truly elated and enjoyed spending Josh's birthday weekend with him doing things together that he loves. 

On Friday, November 7 (his actual birthday), we slept in (that's always a gift in itself!!), then went to lunch at Josephine's Pizza in North Fork. This was the last weekend they were open for the season (they close for the winter months), and we just love their food! We had the Vic's special and cheesy breadsticks, and were stuffed full of delicious food when we were done, and we took the leftovers for the kids to eat for dinner (because they were bummed that we didn't let them join us for lunch there)! 

Then we drove up to Gibbonsville because of the High Country Gift Trail specials that were going on, and we stopped at the Broken Arrow Restaurant where our friend Joey was selling some of his framed photo prints. We talked to Joey and Karen for a while, and then Josh bought two pictures: one of an eagle flying amid snowy, mountain surroundings, and one of sunlight shining brightly through dense trees in the dead of winter. He's wanted to buy some of the framed prints for years, and was so glad that he finally did! Gibbonsville is a 45 minute drive from Salmon, so after getting the pictures, we had a peaceful, enjoyable ride home together. 

That evening, I decided to do something different with Josh's birthday gifts. Since he already knew most of the things he was getting, I thought it would be fun to do something different with them than just wrap them up. I told the kids to each pick one gift, and then they would hide it somewhere in the house and write a clue that would go with its location for Josh to have to hunt and find it. This was fun for both Josh and the kids! I gave Josh a birthday card, and in it was a note that he'd have to search for his gifts and the first clue was included, too.

We all laughed watching him go on the treasure hunt, and found hilarity in the locations where the gifts were placed. Ammon's clue was "this is where you leave your laundry", and he knew his dad's habits so well, in fact, that when Josh found his gift in the dryer it was sitting on the clothes that he'd left in there from the last load he'd done!!  It was so funny that the clue was so obviously spot on!! Micah's clue was "this is where you go to watch TV", and he'd set his gift under the couch cushion. Moments earlier, when Josh had been reading his birthday card, he didn't even realize he was sitting on top of his gift, nor did I! I thought Micah had set the gift underneath the couch, and we all bust out laughing when Josh realized where the gift was!

I know this is a terrible photo of Josh bending over, but it does have a good view
of Josh's birthday gift to himself: these Rock Revival jeans!

Jonah's clue was next, and it read "where you go to eat dinner". He'd set the gift inside the drawer at the end of the dining table where Josh's seat is. The gift was almost too small for the drawer, and it took Josh a few minutes to get it out of the drawer, which was so funny because it went into the drawer effortlessly for Jonah! Kanyon's clue was this:

His gift was in the bathtub. We found this one funny because of the spelling of the word "cleo"!! His last clue was from me, and it was "where you go to relax and rest". I'd purposefully made this one tricky. He checked his bed, his reclining chair, and even the toilet!!! I'd put it on the hammock swing outside, and he finally realized it after several minutes of coming up with nothing inside the house. He received some jerky from Kanyon, a summer sausage roll from Micah, his favorite cereal Cracklin Oat Bran from Jonah, a biker gnome from Ammon, and a comfortable stadium chair from me.

That night, we went to the hot springs with Amanda, and had a good soak. There was a fire going in the outdoor pit, which we hardly ever have at that hot springs, and it was nice to warm up before and after soaking!

Josh's hooded face in the firelight reminded me of
Pocahontas' grandmother that speaks from the side of the tree.
Can you see the resemblance?!!

His birthday was such a happy, enjoyable day, but the fun didn't end there! On Saturday night, we went out with our friends John, Amanda, and Brad. We ate dinner at the 28 Club (Josh's favorite restaurant), and thankfully they had one last piece of prime rib for him (his favorite thing to eat there). We laughed and talked and ate well and had such a good time together. Then we went out to karaoke and dancing afterwards (one of our favorite activities to do with our friends), and the fun just continued! We had such a fabulous night with our friends! On Sunday, we invited his parents over for dinner, and Josh cooked his own birthday meal of steak (his favorite food to make) and I made the mashed potatoes and gravy.

His birthday celebration had the makings of all of his (and a lot of mine) favorite things: spending alone time together, having fun with our family, going out with our friends, and eating fantastic food!! Thanks for sharing your awesome birthday with me, babe!