11.25.12 Thanksgiving visit

Zach was able to bring Matthew Thomas for Thanksgiving.  One of the things Matthew consistently enjoys playing with are the various pirate ships we have.

We have Fisher Price pirates, generic pirates, and even little Veggie Tale pirate figurines from the episode "We are the Pirates, who don't do anything...."

Hours of pirate enjoyment at each visit. Some other highlights were being part of Matthew's enjoyment of the electronic keyboard...

On black Friday, Zach went to Menards at 4:30 a.m. to purchase vinyl flooring that looks like woodgrain for the farmhouse.  He also came back with a nerf gun for Matthew.  Both Matthew and Joe were extremely interested in this, and much chasing, shouting, and and shooting occurred.

How many men does it take to get a nerf gun out of a package?  It depends on how many of those plastic, wire coated twisty ties are attaching it to the cardboard!

Another fun time...playing the Cars Memory game.  Matthew doesn't quite have the rules yet, of only turning over 2 cards per turn.  He likes to find a card he likes, like Lightning McQueen, or the fire engine, and then turning over every card until he finds the match!  Aunt Katie is a good, patient game instructor!

When Joe wanted to join  the game, constant adult supervision was required to keep the peace!

I was sick over Thanksgiving, so I was not good about taking photos. I should have gotten photos of Matt and Mauri, Emily, and Jordan, as well as Grandma Estell and Grandma Eleanor.  Maybe over Christmas!
Sunday morning was full of goodbyes as people left...first Matt and Mauri, then Emily, then Zach taking Matthew back to meet Leah.  A Funny question from Matthew Thomas..."Murdo?  Where is Murdo?"  Following the departures Dan, Joe, and I went to 11:30 mass, and then spent 6 hours cleaning.  We hauled the Christmas decor here from the storage unit because the weather was nice.  The decorating that ensued will be posted seperately!  I am thankful for my children, their spouses and partners, my grandson, and our mothers in our lives. Their visits are the BEST gifts!