The Weather Outside Is Frightful, But the Fire Is So Delightful

What a great night! For supper tonight, Susan invited over her dad, Roger, and his girlfriend, JoAnn. We spent the day working like Turks to clean the house, and Susan prepared a delicious meal: lasagna, toasted garlic bread, green beans almondine, and a tossed salad à la Olive Garden's tasty version (complete with a "knock off" recipe for their savory salad dressing)--and, for dessert, a chocolate Bundt cake with homemade chocolate frosting and Schwan's vanilla ice cream.

It has been a frigid day with a little chill in the house that we didn't notice when we were moving about vacuuming and scrubbing, etc., but that was apparent once we sat down to wait for Roger and JoAnn's arrival. So we lit a fire in the fireplace . . . our first use of the fireplace since we moved into this house! It doesn't kick out the heat like our gas fireplace did in our previous home, but it was toasty nevertheless and cozy and romantic and inviting. We lit every candle in the living room, too, and had quite a moody, serene atmosphere goin' on by the time our guests arrived.

The roaring fire with candles on the hearth for accents

The girls warm themselves at the fire--so exciting because it's the inaugural fire in this fireplace (well, so as long as we have lived here, that is).

Suzanna, Hillary, and Abigail pose in the atmospheric light of the fireplace and the many candles throughout the living room.

After supper, the girls got out their game Apples to Apples, and we got comfy in the living room to play a few rounds of it. It was good for some teasing, plenty of laughs, and a lot of family-togetherness fun!

Susan, JoAnn, Suzanna, Hillary, Abigail, and Roger pondering their next moves

'Nother view