Valentine's and a trip to OKC

First off, an apology for those who skip over the written blog and go directly to the pictures. No pictures are accompanying this post mainly because Matt and Sharon oftentimes forget to bring the camera to significant events. They promise to repent of this bad behavior.

Valentine's Day was celebrated at the Gosney house a day early and in a fairly low-key manner. Matt asked Sharon where her ideal Valentine's Day dinner would be and she responded with a large Gusano's pepperoni pizza and frozen Mrs. Smith's Deep Dish Apple Pie. Matt then remembered all over again why he married Sharon.

The Gosneys teamed up with the Stapley's for a marathon, down-and-back-in-one-day trip to Oklahoma City for a visit to the temple. It was a highly-entertaining trip in which the Stapley's little boy Cole provided endless fun. He's a sweet kid and the Gosneys had fun watching him while his parents were in the temple. The only danger experienced during the trip was when Cole was watching Kung Fu Panda on his portable DVD player and Matt kept peering back in the rear view mirror to watch his favorite parts. Unfortunately for Sharon many of Matt's tastes in entertainment are the same as the average 2 year old. Matt and Sharon took Cole over to Matt's parents where they were joined by Matt's brother (Will), sister-in-law (Lauri), and their two kiddos (Tag - age 2 1/2 and Lucy - age 6 mos). All in all it was a house full of crazy fun and Cole seemed to enjoy every second of it. Matt particularly enjoyed the story of Tag visiting his mom's family and being asked by one of her brothers who is favorite uncle was. Tag, of course not worrying about offending his mom's side of the family, replied without hesistation "My Uncle Matt!" That's a good kid. Matt plans on telling that story a lot.

Life is good here. Matt and Sharon are certainly worried about the economic uncertainty right now across the country and right here in NW Arkansas. We know lots of folks have been impacted and our thoughts and prayers are with all of those struggling at this time.

The Gosneys go to the Oprey!

Matt and Sharon have been extremely excited to have Sharon's dad come and visit for the last couple of days. Dad Smith flew in to Tulsa on Thursday (after the ice started melting, thankfully) and Matt and Sharon have been able to have a lot of fun showing him around NW Arkansas and visiting. Friday was a driving tour of all of the hot spots in NWA with stops in the very cosmopolitan Hiwassee not to mention the booming metropolis of Gravette. He also got to see Bentonville and Bella Vista, but let's face it. When someone comes to this part of the country it's to see one thing and one thing only; Highfill, AR - population 341. Dad Smith has enjoyed his stay (or at least he says he has) and thinks it is beautiful out here with very friendly people, good food, and lots to do for a retiree with a penchant for country music and farmer's markets.

Speaking of country music, Matt and Sharon discovered and took Dad Smith to quite the hole in the wall music joint on Saturday called "The Little o' Oprey" in West Fork. Matt didn't even know West Fork existed prior to this weekend. The Oprey is an ancient building that has been turned into a music hall. The house band plays every Saturday evening with various performers from the area doing several numbers with the house band throughout the show. It's a great place for teen-agers and those who are just starting to get into the performing business to learn how to play in front of an audience and with a band behind them. The level of talent was varied. There was a rather unfortunate rendition of "Wabash Cannonball," and Sharon showed far too much enthusiasm in Matt's opinion for an spirited if not exactly skilled version of "Achey-Breaky Heart." The house band at the Oprey were actually very talented, particularly the steel guitar player and the keyboardist. It was fascinating to watch performers get up, tell the band the name of the song and what key it was in, and then perform as the steel guitar player watched the performer's guitar neck for chords while signaling the rest of the band when the chord changes were happening. It was clear the band were a bunch of salty old professionals just interested in helping out some kids learn their chops. The Little O' Oprey is not recommended by the Gosneys for those interested in high quality music performance. For those interested in hearing a talented band playing old country music standards behind kids who are three times younger than the songs they are singing, the Oprey may be for you. And no, the Gosneys did not spontaneously grow mullets after attending.

A few pictures from the Gosney's night at the Oprey are included, as is a video of the house band playing a song by themselves. The keyboardist is doing the singing. Pardon Matt's shakey hand (shakey-breaky?), and be sure to scroll down and push pause on the Playlist musicbox first so you can hear.



Hope everyone is happy and well!