Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend is always a time for us Sluiters to catch up with friends. Erin and Brad were in town this weekend from North Dakota and Mat, Tonya, and Jeremy were in town from Chicago. Wednesday night we all gathered at the Busscher house to see our great friends who are spread around the country. This year, we missed Phil and Liz, who just moved to South Carolina and couldn't get the time off to come visit. There was definitely something missnig without them, but we had fun with those who were here! Lucky for us, we had Thanksgiving with Phil and Liz in August when we visited them in NY before they moved!

For Thanksgiving Day this year, Cortney and I decided to try something new. Our good friends, the Visels, invited us over to their house to share Thanksgiving with them. I made chex mix and spinach dip to snack on before dinner, Ben prepared the feast, and I brought over the dessert. It was great teamwork for a delicious and lazy day!

Check out that bird! Ben did such a great job! It was so moist and yummy!
He also made green bean casserole and stuffing in the crockpots! Oh boy...bring it on!
There were also homemade rolls and a yummy orange jello dish! No one went hungry at the Visels!
After playing the wii for a few HOURS, we decided it was pie time. I made apple, pecan, and pumpking pies, and just for Ben, I made a homemade cheese cake! Yum! We had such a great day hanging out with Trisha, Ben, Jason, Jake, and Joe! It's great to have such good friends who you can relax and be fat with!
The day after Thanksgiving, my mom and I braved the crowds for some deals on our Christmas shopping. I didn't get all my shopping done, but most of our familiy members now have gifts waiting for them from the Sluiters! We also made one more stop at the Busschers to see ma and pa Busscher one last time before they packed up and headed for Florida in their fifth-wheel, and to see Erin and Brad one last time before they headed to WI to see the Packers play tomorrow.

Today I decided it was time to bust out the Christmas decorations! Louis was not so sure about the new addition to the couch. Hopefully he doesn't remember what he did to that blanket last year!
Hmmmm...he's smelling it an awful lot...hopefully I got the smell of his, uh, "marking", off from it from last year!
He looks pretty comfy on it! I guess he is ready for the Christmas season too! Tonight I will be wrapping some gifts and tomorrow I will be working on my Christmas cards! The fun has begun!