Our holiday week started quietly at home. I spent Monday morning cleaning and finishing up some gift wrapping. I had a list of to-do's but nothing too crazy, so it was a nice, peaceful, productive morning.
We had a Winter Weather Advisory calling for some freezing drizzle and snow moving into the area during the afternoon, so I was glad that the weather stayed clear for my drive out to the vet's office for Smokey's check-up. He loves his visits to the vet because he gets lots of love and attention. During his appointment he received another red-light therapy on his shoulder wound to help with the healing. Dr. Gretchen was really pleased with how well he is healing, so we are continuing to apply a cream to his wound daily and keeping it covered with a t-shirt as it heals. He'll go back after the holidays for another check-up. I'm really impressed with how noticeable the healing has been over the last few days. I'm hopeful that we'll only have one or two more appointments before he is cleared for adoptions.
After his appointment, I had some errands to run, and luckily, the bad weather hadn't yet arrived. So off I went to make a couple of gift card purchases, a quick stop at Aldi, a gas station stop to fill-up the car, and a few other stops along the way. I had hoped the drizzle would hold off long enough for me to get the dogs out for a quick walk, but it started to rain just before my final stop. With the freezing temperatures and rain, I decided it was safest just to head home and settle in for the night. The dogs had dinner in their brain games and I finished putting gifts under the tree and a few other things before we settled in for the night. It was a peaceful evening.
We were up early on Christmas Eve, ready to start our preparations for our evening festivities. There were still a few things I wanted to do around the house, including another good vacuuming, dusting, and some laundry. I prepped a bunch of Kongs for the freezer, and then I started the food prep for the night. Time flew by, and before I knew it, it was 5pm. The food prep was finished, dinner was in the crockpot, the dishes were washed, and all other preparations for the evening were finished.
All of the hard work throughout the day left the dogs neglected for a lot of the day. I know that they knew something exciting was going to happen, and they were ready for it. While we waited for Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona to arrive, I took them out for a quick adventure, and then we came back home and waited for our guests.
When they arrived, the dogs were so excited to see everyone! Mina was extra crazy, Peaches immediately climbed into Tyler's lap, and Smokey was trying to get pets from everyone. When things calmed down a bit, we ate dinner and then turned on Rudolf to watch with Fiona until we were ready to open gifts.
Once we started opening gifts, Fiona decided that she wanted to give Peaches all of the wrapping paper. Fiona loved opening her gifts, and Mina, Peaches, and Smokey were so excited to open their gifts too. They all loved their kangaroo tails from Nicol, which kept them happy and busy for quite awhile. And while they were busy, we played games and enjoyed just being together.
The night went way too quickly, and it was soon time for them to go home. But before they did, I somehow got lucky and Fiona sat nicely for a couple of pictures.
She really loves the girls and Smokey, and she wanted nothing more than to stay longer and snuggle with Peaches. There were lots of tears when she was told it was time to go, heartbreaking for her grandma, but I know she had a great night and I am so glad that I have some really wonderful memories made with her. It was a lovely evening.
After they left, I stayed up with the dogs, enjoying the tree and the peacefulness of the night.
We slept in a bit on Christmas morning. Once we were up and they ate breakfast, I made the dogs sit in front of the tree for a couple of pictures and then let them open a couple of gifts.
Then we sat down together and just enjoyed some good snuggles and the quiet of Christmas morning.
I always hate when the peaceful Christmas morning must end so that I can get ready to make the hour drive to my parents for the rest of our Christmas festivities. Those quiet Christmas morning snuggles are one of my favorite parts of the holiday.
After arriving at my parents, I spent some time visiting with them while we waited for my brother and his family to arrive. Finally they got there, and we sat down to Christmas lunch.
Afterward, we opened gifts, and then visited. It was nice to get to visit with all of the kids. It is rare that I ever see them all together anymore.
After several hours at my parents, I made the drive home, got the dogs loaded into the car, and headed out to Holt for a walk through the park. It was a mild evening, and it was nice to get out and stretch our legs. We enjoyed the fresh air, exercise, and pretty lights.
On the way home, we drove around some of the neighborhoods in Holt listening to Christmas music and enjoying the Christmas lights. When we got home, I fed the dogs dinner, and heated up the bacon wrapped pineapple and goat cheese stuffed, bacon wrapped dates left over from Christmas eve for myself. Then I sat down and watched a Christmas movie while enjoying the Christmas Tree. It was the perfect end to my day.
On Thursday morning, I spent a little time doing some clean up from Christmas Eve. It was a mild day, so the dogs spent a good amount of time outside, and we spent a fair amount of time quietly enjoying the day. We took a lovely mid-afternoon walk around the neighborhood. Then I got ready to head out to meet with Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona for our final Christmas event of the season.
I met them at their house and then we made the short drive to the Wild Lights at the Detroit Zoo. I've wanted to attend this event for years, so I was so excited to finally get a chance to go.
Fiona loved seeing all of the light displays and I was grateful for mild temperatures.
The light displays are all well done and it was a really nice event. Fiona especially loved the ornaments that you could walk inside.
While these ornaments and a few other displays are set up for pictures, Fiona had no interest in having her picture taken. She really just wanted to walk inside of them.
She waited patiently in several lines until it was her turn and she was so excited when she could walk inside each one. It was such a fun time.
After we got back to their house, Fiona showed me some of the fun gifts she had gotten for Christmas, and then it was time for me to head home. She was once again sad to see me go, but I promised to come back for another visit soon. The dogs were pretty happy to see me when I got home and we enjoyed another night of snuggles in front of the Christmas tree.
On Friday morning, I was ready to get out for some fun with the dogs. Mid-morning we hit the road and headed out onto some dirt backroads for a little geocaching fun. While the rain hadn't started when we left, I knew it was on its way, so I wanted to take advantage of the mild temperatures while I could.
We stopped in the tiny town of Middleton for lunch at the Middleton diner and enjoyed their lunch buffet. It was a delicious lunch followed by a walk around town with the dogs. Then we headed out for some more geocaching.
As we drove around, the rain started and the roads were getting muddy, but I didn't let that stop me from doing a more geocaching. Along the way, I found chicken eggs for sale on the side of the road for $1 a dozen and I saw lots of farmland. As I picked up a final cache, I looked up and saw this old building and tree, which I thought made a really pretty picture.
We started our drive home in the rain, but as we got closer to Lansing, I decided we'd make a visit to Preuss Pets. Each dog got out for an individual visit into the store and a walk around the block. They all loved their visit to Preuss.
Finally, we made one final stop at the Capitol Grounds for another quick walk to burn a little more energy before heading home. It had been a good day enjoying some time doing something fun.
Saturday's forecast called for temperatures to reach the low 50s, so I knew we had to take advantage of it. We were up early and the dogs spent some time outside. We had a couple of quiet hours while they enjoyed a Kong and took a late morning nap while I did some reading, then I fed them lunch, and we headed out to meet with our friend Chuck who had recently gotten a deer. He was going to be in town and had brought some meat for Peaches.
All of my dogs have always loved Chuck, and I really appreciate that not only did he bring us some meat that was taking up space in his freezer, but he also took the time while cleaning his deer to take some extra meat he wouldn't normally bother with, cut it into one inch cubes, and saved it for Peaches. The cooler full of meat he brought to me will keep Peaches fed for a while, and there is a good variety, including venison, pork, salmon and some other fish, and even some squirrel. That will be a first for Peaches.
After meeting with Chuck, we headed to East Lansing and took a long walk on Campus. It was such a great day to be out and we thoroughly enjoyed our walk. We haven't been out for a long walk in awhile so this was much needed. After a couple of trips outside to play, we had dinner, and then enjoyed a quiet evening at home.
I had hoped our Sunday morning would start with a little adventure so that the dogs could burn some energy before I had to head out to a family Christmas party with my mom's family. The rain had other plans for us. So instead I snuggled with Peaches and played fetch with Mina while Smokey chewed on something while laying nearby.
While I know that Christmas has come and gone, I feel like the week between Christmas and New Year is the best part of the Christmas season. I love this time of year, and this week is a definite highlight since there are festivities, lights, good food, and the best part, I have the whole week off to enjoy however I want. I'm doing my best to rest and relax, but also to get out and enjoy some fun activities with the dogs. It sure is flying by though! In just a couple of days, we will reach the end of 2024 and welcome 2025, the holiday season will end, and we'll be back to the grind of life. But for now, I'm going to enjoy this quiet, peaceful, restful time to it's fullest.
I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season, too. Be sure to take some time to rest, relax, and recharge. Thanks for following along on our adventures this year.
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