Matthew and I took a few strolls around Luke's yard one morning, just enjoying walking and talking together.
This is one of the trailers for Luke's lawn business. Matthew works for Luke as the lawn care foreman.
Explaining a water leakage problem with the basement...
Matthew had written out a list of activities that we could do while we were visiting, so here we are reading over it to make sure that we got in the things that we wanted to make sure we did!
Nathan...
Ethan and Noah were teaching him to be a good chaperone!
Doing devotions together....
My wonderful mother...
Michael...
Christie and I...
Nathan and Christie...
Noah and Ethan...
This next picture was taken at Matthew's parents home. Matthew was trying to figure out the Charlie Brown theme song on the keyboard. Matthew plays by ear and does a fantastic job of it, whereas I play by sheet music, so I had a hard time keeping up with what my part was supposed to be! ;) Paul is in the background looking on....
He also gave me a few lessons on driving using a stick shift! Yikes! His car is a manual, and although I tried driving one when I was about 16, the hills and I didn't agree! I didn't do so well, and never got past a few lessons. But that was several years ago, so Matthew was willing to give it a try with me!
One of the afternoons that we were at the farmhouse, Matthew's brothers had put together a hayride for us to enjoy! Although it was very brisk outside, the Dickerson's brought out lots of blankets for us to bundle up with. Paul drove the tractor and he gave us a tour of the whole block around the farm, pointing out where they tap for syrup, where they bale hay, and different points of interest. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed myself immensely! Of course, this happened to be the day that I fell in the creek, so I was quite wet, but Matthew sat on the opposite side of me to block the wind, he made sure that I had plenty of blankets to bundle up with, Paul loaned me his ear muffs, and Matthew even gave me his warm sweater to wear, so I was quite warm.
I, unfortunately don't have any pictures of the hayride, but Matthew sent some of a previous hayride they went on, so it will give you an idea of how the wagon looks....
Over at Matthew's apartment that he shares with his older brother, Justin. We played a few card games over there, after he showed us around his place!
On our last full day up in Ohio, Matthew took me (and Savannah as chaperone) down to the Creation Museum in Cincinnati, to walk through their Christmas light display that they hold every year! Since it was a weekday, it closed earlier than it would on the weekend, but he was willing to drive us down there to enjoy it for a short time and then drive us back. When we arrived it was still fairly light out and only a few of the lights were on, but they began turning them on as we began to walk through.
The lights were gorgeous, there were wreaths and garlands on the bridges, the air was brisk, and there was soft Christmas music playing in the background. It was lovely!
I took the blanket along that Matthew had given me earlier in the week, so I bundled up in it about halfway through the evening...
The gazebo/pavilion all lit up!
A friendly duck waddled up for some attention...
Our ever faithful chaperone and photographer who braved the cold so that Matthew and I could enjoy the evening together! Thanks Savannah! You're a sweet sis!
A suspension bridge...
We had a lovely time talking with each other as we strolled through the lights. It was a beautiful evening, one that turned out even better than we thought it would!
And to make a swell evening even better, Matthew took me out to eat at Fazoli's on our way back! He claims that it was not our first date, since Fazoli's wasn't the fine dining that he was wanting, and since Savannah shared our table with us (hehehe!), but I still think it was a wonderful touch to an already perfect time!
If you can't tell already, Matthew and I both have a sense of humor and enjoy goofing off!
We headed back home the next morning, but before we got on the road, Matthew and I shared devotions together and then set up personalized ringtones for each other's phones with our voices on it!
We had a terrific time in Ohio, meeting Matthew's family, enjoying the sights that Dayton has to offer, seeing some of the places he'd been telling us about. Best of all, Matthew was there, and I was able to spend every day with him for 5 days straight! I'm very much looking forward to taking another trip up in the warmer weather, so that we can enjoy doing some more outside activities!
Now, that I'm all caught up...Matthew is coming to spend New Year's with me and my family...
So stay tuned for another blog post coming in January!
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