Around the dinner table

One of the things that I missed most while our kids were both away at college was dinnertime laughter and conversation. I love the banter that goes on around the table and our family is always telling "old" stories about each other and laughing.

Glenn called and said that he and his sweet girlfriend, Lauren were going to be in town for the weekend. Laura remembered that Lauren's birthday is coming soon, so we decided to cook a "birthday for Lauren/homecoming for Glenn" dinner on Friday night. We also invited our sweet friend Anna from church. We grilled steaks and chicken and we had a great big salad with all sorts of toppings and hash brown casserole. I made a 1-2-3-4 cake with chocolate butter cream frosting. I was afraid that I left a cup of sugar out of the recipe but it tasted pretty good.

We bought a couple of gifts for Lauren.
A friend of mine (knicknats design - Natalie!! - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7063550)has a business making the cutest earrings (now in Wrapsody in Patton Creek and Auburn) and Laura gave Lauren a pair of KnickNats orange and blue (War Eagle) polka dot earrings. Lauren had recently asked for a recipe for a tailgate party so I bought a "Temptations" (our Trinity UMC) cookbook for her, a really cute apron, a clear acrylic recipe box and cute recipe cards (Smith's Variety in Homewood has the best gifts!! http://smithsvarietyshop.com/about_us)

My favorite part of the evening was talking and laughing around the dinner table. I love sitting around our big dining room table. I loved that I was able to decorate a little for Halloween.

Laura and I are both "loud." Glenn and Mark tell us that often. We get carried away as we tell a story and we get louder and louder and louder. One of us would start a story and another would interrupt filling in the blanks. We laughed a lot! What a fun evening enjoying one of the things that I miss the most.