Matthew's Visit: Days 2 & 3

Okay, so this next post covers Tuesday, the 30th and 31st of December, the second and third days of Matthew's visit!!!

Matthew and I playing the piano together: our duet, Heart and Soul.  ;)

Me, desperately trying to play my Christmas songs for him.  I practiced and practiced so that I'd be able to play them without a glitch when Matthew was here, and I had them down pat.  I even played one for the Christmas candlelight service, but to no avail.  I get too nervous when he's listening and can't follow the music and lose my spot and stumble around on the piano like I just started playing yesterday.  It's terrible!  He's still very encouraging and tells me I did wonderful, but I know better, because I know what they are supposed to sound like.  Arggghh!

Maybe someday....

For lunch, we went out to the local Pizza Joint.  

 We were all super excited to be eating pizza, can you tell?!!  Except for Joel.  Poor Joel thought we were all a little crazy, and remained the only sensible one in the pack.  LOL!

Mom and Dad got their own table right across from ours....

Waiting for our pizza...smile everybody!

What?!!  You mean there were other people at our table?

Sister, sister photo...

The fellas...

Ethan, Savannah and I...

      Eating some deliciously good pizza....

(Just as a disclaimer.....the bottle on the table is a Root Beer bottle.  Just thought I needed to clarify that!)

After filling up on pizza, we headed over to the bowling alley to use up some calories and to give my new bowling shoes a try!  (By the way, they fit like a charm.  He asked me my shoe size, which went right over my head because he's always asking random questions like that, and I gave him a very vague answer back like "Well...if it's tennis shoes, I'm a... but if it sandals, then I'm a..... but I do have a few pairs that are a....".  Somehow through all that, he took a good guess of what size I'd be and went with it and they fit!)

Mom, Ethan, Savannah and Noah all awaiting their turn....

Joel...

Matthew, me and THE bowling shoes...

Joel on the ride home.  Ah...now there's your goofy side, Joel!

Oh my!

Matthew and I....

Wednesday rolled around, New Year's Eve!  I didn't take but a few pictures that day, so you'll have to forgive me.  

The morning started out with Matthew helping Gram and I milk and then bottle-feed all of the baby goats.  (We had several mothers give birth while they were here, so we had quite a few babies to bottle-feed.)  Matthew was so funny!  At the beginning, he got just about as much milk on himself as he did inside the baby goat, which only made me laugh.  He got it on his sweater, his pants, even his face.  He was a mess!  But as the days progressed, he got better and better at it and got to the point where he didn't spill but a few drops on himself!  He's a quick learner....

After washing up from the morning milking and eating breakfast, Joel, Matthew and I headed to Kroger.  Matthew came up with an idea for us to plan and cook a special, surprise meal together for everyone, including making the list and getting the groceries.  We decided that we would make a special breakfast for my family on Friday morning, but we wanted to get all of our supplies and have them ready ahead of time.

Our shopping trip was fun, but busy.  It was New Year's Day!  Bad time to go leisurely shopping...but we found what we needed and headed back home with our goods.  

One thing that has been a new experience for me is hanging around older guys.  I have younger brothers, but hanging around Matthew and Joel together was different, and a lot of fun.  They chat and laugh and have their inside jokes the same as Savannah and I do, but it's different cause, well, they're guys!  We giggle; they chuckle.  We whisper; they mumble.  We elbow each other; they sock each other's arms.  Guys and girls...a world of differences!

Matthew took the photo below.  Quite the candid shot, I'm not even smiling for the camera cause I didn't know when he was taking it.  I was getting food ready for our New Year's Eve party!

Since it's a family tradition to eat snacks on New Year's Eve, as evening rolled around, we started getting busy in the kitchen.  We had invited a few family members over to join us in a Euchre tournament for the night.  We had enough players to set up three tables.  During a tournament you rotate tables and players with each game.  Matthew and I started out as partners, but that was the only time I got to play with him for the entire evening.  Our game came to an end shortly after midnight.  Ethan ended up winning first prize, Matthew came in second, and my uncle came in last, thus receiving the loser's prize.  But just because our game came to an end and some of our company went home doesn't mean that we all went to bed.  We all stayed up late talking and enjoying one another's company, but slowly people started to head off to bed.

Matthew and Dad being crazy....

One of the card tables....

It was a very enjoyable day and had already been a wonderful visit!  I was glad that I still had several days left to spend with him!