Thanksgiving Week

This week was a short school week. Zoe had only MON and TUE school and Dustin had to add another half day on WED and the rest of the week everybody is off. Henry is super excited that he doesn't have to go to school and he says that he doesn't need to go to school anymore. He somehow doesn't like his teacher :(... I don't know... oh well...
On Monday we enjoyed some time at the Hands On Museum with Michael and Austin. Henry was super excited and LOVED that place. I think it actually was his first time. I only took Zoe back in the days when Henry wasn't around or I went when Henry was super tiny but I doubt that...

 He was so excited that he fell asleep on the car ride home!

Turkey Dinner... the 17lbs Turkey turned out super delicious again. We had lots of yummy food... oh no... I forgot to make the red cabbage!!!! But we had sweet potatoes, Mashed Potatoes, Dumplings, Green Beans, Corn, Gravy and this delicious turkey... it was PLENTY of food... no wonder I forgot in all this craziness the red cabbage :(...

Dustin created those amazing looking roses for us :). It looks really cool and wasn't that difficult to make.  It just took a little time but we had plenty of that today.

Snow

Goofing around...

Aaaahhh, enjoying some me-time at the spa :)...

 The kids were so excited to see the snow outside when they woke up...

 ... it was even better the next morning... SAT we got a lot of snow. We were out and about all day so we couldn't enjoy the beautiful snowfall (well I had to drive in it for quite some hours)... but therefore on Sunday the kids got to enjoy it.

Isn't that view incredible... the sunrise shines into the snow covered trees! It was even more incredible in live, I can tell you... it was stunning...

shortly after breakfast the kids got outside and built a snowman :)

 sooo cute... :)...

Henry enjoys the guys

On THU we made a trip to the mall to get some last shopping done for Bjoern even though he didn't find anything :(. But we had Cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory and Henry got a chocolate Ice Cream. Look how happy he is :). He totally enjoyed Dustin and Bjoern around... he's normally used to be around girls all the time so it was a real treat for him to be around guys. He grew a lot and he speaks a lot more German words since Bjoern is around :). 

Unfortunately we had to bring Bjoern to the airport today :(... it's very weird to be back to 5 only and so quiet. The house was so full of life, it was so amazing. We had an amazing time together and Bjoern is greatly missed.

Dustin's 17th Birthday

Time flies when you're having fun, right? Apparently we have too much fun *lol*... time just flies here and I wish it wouldn't somehow... it all goes way too fast. Last week we were just hanging out in the area and visiting the gym a few times and preparing Dustin's 17th Birthday :). Secret missions were completed and I think we nailed it pretty good. Dustin had a very great 17th Birthday dinner with the typical decoration we do around here and a super delicious cake :).

WED our trip to IKEA... Henry felt at home watching cartoons!!! 

He's always hungry... of course the whole time we were at IKEA he asked us to go eat at the restaurant!!! Oh Boy

Our Turkey - 20lbs... yeah baby. We're 'celebrating' Thanksgiving today (Sunday)... why go with the crowd ;)... let's do something different and who knows what we end up doing on Thanksgiving weekend... might as well enjoy a big feast with the whole family while Bjoern is still here and enjoy this big bird together

 Secret project for Dustin's gift :)

Caramel Apple Cheesecake. Dustin and Bjoern enjoyed the Cheesecake Factory soooo much in Chicago that we had to try to make him a super delicious Cheesecake and we did...

Boy it was delicious...

Yesterday we all went to Frankenmuth and were shopping at the outlet stores for at least 6 hrs. 1.5 hrs in a kids' shoe store because Zoe couldn't decide on shoes which she will actually wear!!! Oh man... luckily I gave Dustin and Bjoern the task to find shoes for Henry who also didn't want to try on shoes and they succeeded way faster than I did with Zoe.

 Calling Santa :)

Halloween - Chicago

Bjoern arrived on 10/26 - YEAH... it's been really fun having a full house. Since our guest room is occupied we have Zoe and Henry both sleep in Zoe's room which works out really good.

Pumpkin Quiche - YUM

The day after Bjoern arrival... what do we have to do? Exactly: Go Shopping *lol*...

Henry enjoys all these males in the house... he's either chasing around with Dustin or Bjoern. He's having a total blast

Bjoern, Henry and I went to the Rouge Factory Tour. Watching how the F-150 is being build on the line. It was so cool!!! Of course we weren't allowed to take any pics so this is the only picture we have from our little adventure to the Tour.

THU to Sunday we went to Chicago and had a blast.

 Getting ready for Halloween... $10 for this funny looking hat but I decided against it.

 I went as the bad witch instead...

The kids really enjoyed their first trick or treating... It was 'ok' but not my favorite... it's just weird knocking on strangers' doors and ask for candy.

Very fun first week. Can't believe Bjoern has been here already one week!