Thanksgiving and the kick-off to the holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  We had a nice week off and a wonderful holiday weekend.

This week I had a much needed break.  While I had some ideas on how we might spend my time off, the week went nothing like I had expected, and honestly, I'm glad it did.

After our fun last weekend trying Barn Hunt at Scent Savvy Canine Center, we had the option of getting some professional photos taken before leaving the event.  There was no cost and no obligation to purchase anything, so I figured there was no harm in stopping to get some pictures taken.  Peaches wasn't thrilled about sitting still for pictures, but Mina was an excellent model, even when Peaches just stood up and walked away in the middle of the shoot.  When the proofs became available earlier this week, I was so excited about how great the pictures were...and ended up buying all four pictures.  

As I started my week off on Monday morning, I woke up with big plans to get the girls out for a hiking and geocaching adventure, but when I checked the weather I decided I had no desire to go geocaching in temperatures in the 30s with a windchill in the 20s.  I thought I'd wait until it warmed up a bit later in the day to leave, but received a late morning call from my parents and I decided to meet them for lunch instead.

After lunch, I took a slow drive home and did a little geocaching along the way.  Once I got home, I took the girls for a nice long visit to the dog park,  Some of their favorite friends were at the park and I figured we'd take full advantage of the trip.  By the time we left, it was completely dark and we were the last ones to leave.  On the drive home, we stopped for a walk around the Capitol to check out the State Christmas tree.  It was our first visit of the season downtown, and it definitely won't be our last.  I love being downtown during the holidays.

Tuesday was a cold and rainy day, and we spent a quiet lazy day at home.  Thankfully all of the fun we'd had over the weekend and on Monday kept the girls content to spend the day lounging and napping.  It was a perfect late Fall day at home.

I spent the whole day Wednesday preparing for Thanksgiving day.  While Nicol was hosting dinner this year, I was responsible for several sides and a desert.   While I cooked and cleaned, the girls spent much of the day outside.  At the end of the day I had roasted Brussel Sprouts, tried my hand at making my grandma's baked beans, and finished the dressing.  I also made the homemade crescent rolls that Nicol had requested and a small batch of my great grandma's sour cream cookies.  

After a busy day of food prep, I headed out to the shelter for our Wednesday night Dog Walking Club.  There were four adoptable dogs that didn't get adopted or go into a foster home for the weekend and we wanted to make sure they all got out for a nice walk.  It was a really nice group of dogs and I got to walk Sergei. 

After the walk, I brought Riff home with me as our next foster dog.  The girls and I had spent some time at the shelter earlier in the day meeting a few of the dogs in need of a foster home, and Riff seemed like the best fit.  Riff and I stopped at Soldan's on our way home.  I think he was pretty happy to be out of the shelter.   We're happy that we can give him a quiet place to wait for his forever home.

Thursday morning we were up early to finish up some last minute food prep before heading downtown to join the Turkey Trot.  

It was a beautiful sunny day for a walk and all three of the dogs had a great time.  It was nice to be able to get them out to spend some time in the sunshine and fresh air and get some exercise before our Thanksgiving feast.  They also made several friends along the way.

When we got home, I got everyone settled in for the day with some treats, a Kong and a chew for the day.  Then I packed the car and headed to Nicol's house.

We spent the afternoon watching the Lions game, and during halftime, my mom and I took Picasso and Fiona out for a nice walk.  It was such a nice sunny day.

While we waited for the turkey to finish roasting, Fiona entertained us all.  She loves books and spent lots of time with each of us reading to her.  She loved showing her Great Grandpa her animal book.

The dinner feast was finally ready and we all sat down to enjoy it.  We had enough food to feed an army and the turkey looked amazing.  We ate plenty and had lots of leftovers to bring home for the weekend.

It was a great meal and we all very much enjoyed the food and the time with family.

After a long day away, I made the drive home.  Everyone was very happy to see me.  After feeding the dogs dinner, we had a nice quiet evening.

Friday morning I did some cleaning while the dogs were outside.  We had a lazy few hours mid-day before I went out to get the Christmas lights put up outside finally.   

Before it got too late, we took a drive to campus to get some exercise.  We took a walk through the horticultural gardens and made a stop in the Children's garden too.  Peaches and Mina were crazy, and Riff is still learning how to walk with two other dogs, so it was a challenging 2 miles, but ultimately we had a nice time and I was glad we had gotten outside.

I finished the evening by getting the lights on the Christmas tree and then we snuggled in for a night of watching the Wizard of Oz.  

Saturday morning I decided to go out to the shelter to volunteer.  Since the shelter is closed for the long weekend, I wanted to get the dogs out for a nice walk and a break from the shelter.   It was a great morning spent with the shelter dogs.  Lt Cable is one of my favs at the shelter right now.

Afterward I ran a few errands and then made it home in time for the Michigan and Ohio State football game.  The dogs were so good the whole game and napped for most of it.

After the game, we headed outside so I could do a little yard work and clean up all of the Fall decorations.  Riff had a wonderful time in the yard watching all of the cars driving by and the critters running around.  I was happy to get the final leaf clean-up done in the front yard and along the curb before the snow moves into the area.

Since Riff has two torn ACLs, I'm trying to make sure he gets enough exercise and fun without overdoing it.  Mina and Peaches needed to get out for some exercise, so I decided to leave him home and take the girls for a visit to the dog park.  They needed to get in a good run and they always have a great time when we visit.  We  arrived about 30 minutes before sunset and the sunset from the park was pretty spectacular. 

After our dog park visit, we drove home so that Riff could join us as we ran some errands and I picked up takeout for dinner.  We had another nice, quiet evening at home.

I thought we might spend our Sunday trying to get out for a short hike on the North Country Trail, but with snow moving into the area, I decided to skip the drive to the trail and just stay home.  We spent a lazy morning at home before heading out for a little shopping.  

While the forecast had called for snow to move in over night. it was still dry when we left the house around 11am.  I made a couple of quick stops to pick up a few things and then we stopped at PetSmart so that the dogs could all go in for a visit.  First I took Riff in for visit, and then the girls got to go inside.  There were some great deals, so I did a little Christmas shopping for the girls while I was there.  As we started the drive home, the snow started to fall.  I made a quick stop for gas and then stopped at Soldan's.  I took each of the dogs in for a visit all by themselves and they each got a special treat too.  We then made our way home for an afternoon of Hallmark Christmas movies.  The dogs went outside a couple of times to play, but always settled down quickly once they came back inside.  It was a really nice day.  A quiet snowy Sunday afternoon at home was the perfect end to our week of vacation. 

We have now entered the heart of the holiday season and I'm looking forward to all of the sparkling lights and holiday fun.    Here are the pictures from their visit to Santa at the Roscommon County Animal Shelter a couple of weeks ago.  I'm looking forward to lots more holiday fun with them over the next month.  

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday and that you have a great week.  We look forward to sharing our holiday fun with you over the next few weeks.   It is one of my favorite times of the year and we are going to make the most of it.  It even feels a bit more like Christmas now that we have some snow.