Free Form: Our 45th Anniversary

The kids wanted to do something special for our anniversary, offering to take us out on the town. They were were even getting babysitters! I suggested that instead of going out and paying out the wazoo for steaks, why didn't we just buy steaks and cook them here. That was fine with them, if that was what we wanted to do, but I still wanted them to get babysitters.

I need to digress a bit here. Wayne and I have always been fairly relaxed about when we celebrate our anniversary. If we go out to eat at any time during the weeks before our anniversary, we say, "Okay! We'll make this our anniversary." As it happened this year, the 27th of February was on a Saturday and that worked out for everyone. They all had to miss some dinner/dance fundraiser, however. But, they said they would start going to them next year. (Hope they arrange for babysitters well in advance.)

Carolyn and Wendy called Kenny & Kelly's kids, Kaiti, Kellcie, & Kent, to see if they would be able to babysit for them this year and luckily they were available. Also luckily, Kenny & Kelly wanted to join us for the anniversary dinner. A wonderful addition to the party. They always liven things up!

I must admit that I naively imagined that the dinner was going to be at our house but that I wouldn't have to do anything...just be a guest here. The first I heard that I would be cooking the steaks was a week or so before the big event. My response..."What the hell!?!" But, of course, steaks are pretty easy to do. We ended up searing them on the stove top for about 4 minutes each and then popped them in a 500 degree oven for an additional 6 minutes. They were very nice (preseasoned) boneless ribeyes that Carolyn bought at Novak's in El Campo.

Carolyn and Robin arrived mid-afternoon and we got started with the margarita machine. Robin and Chad got the 3-blender Margaritaville machine as a wedding gift. Brent gave Carolyn the same model for her birthday. A very nice machine...makes a great margarita! We washed potatoes and asparagus and toasted some bread for the baked brie appetizer. We should have set the tables and gotten a little more organized, but we neglected to do that. But, the margaritas were really good.

Wendy came as soon as Kelly and Gage got back from a birthday party. And then Brent, Kelly, Kenny and Kelly all arrived as soon as the babysitters got dropped off. And then it got really loud in the kitchen, which is where we all were.

Dinner was very good, although as I said, we could have been a little more organized. Once we finished dinner and dessert, a yummy pecan pie truffle, we cleaned up and then set up a Tripoley game on the dining room table. It had been many years since most of us had played Tripoley and Robin had to repeat the rules more than once. She bought the game on ebay. In case you don't know what Tripoley is, the game involves a poker hand and also the playing of money cards. It was a lot of fun even though Kenny was the big winner that night!

It was after midnight before the last of them left...all very tired, including us. It was a really fun anniversary party! Thanks, everyone!