Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Valentine's Dinner Party

Last Friday evening Paul and I hosted a Valentine Dinner Party at our home. This is something that we have done several times. It's kind of a special thing that we started back when we lived in New York. One year we did a "50's Hop", and it was more a Valentine party. That was the very first one we did. Since then, we've tried to be more formal, and go with a dinner. This year we did that as well. I made between 40 and 50 ice luminaries that lined the porch and driveway. Unfortunately, it was not dark enough to get the full effect, but they looked better as the evening darkened.

This was the entry table. There were three roses on this table, they're just hard to see in this picture.
We started off with fresh fruit and chocolate, stuffed mushrooms and punch. There was a short "get acquainted" time, and then we went into the dining room for dinner.


The menu for dinner was: greek salad with feta cheese, chicken parmesean, linguine with alfredo sauce, and homemade breadsticks with more cheese sauce.

Dessert was: flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sauce.

And we never would have made it without our wonderful waiter: Jonathan. He did a wonderful job keeping drinks filled, removing plates, clearing food from the table, as well as serving dessert. Thank you, Jonathan for a job well done. You truly are learning how to have a servant's heart.

I asked everyone to bring their wedding pictures along. We had a great time looking through each album, and finding out how many ties we had to one another through this one and that one. We were reminded over and over again just how small our world really is. We played a game about how well we know our spouse. We also did a quick evaluation to find out each other's love language, and we also found out that every seven minutes there is a lull in the conversation. :) Later the ladies spent time in the kitchen together, cleaning up the mess (thanks everybody for your help), and the guys hung out in the living room. Around 11:30 the party was over, with lots of memories made, friendships strengthened, and hopefully each one felt a deeper appreciation for our mate. We had a wonderful time, and will look forward to doing it again. Guests who attended were:
Rhonda and Dan England

David and Sarah Fry
David and Cathy Watson
Kevin and Beth Wilhelm
Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

8 comments:

Jody J said...

I was hoping you'd post pictures. Looks beautiful and fun!

Patty said...

What a great idea! It sounds like lots of fun and everything was beautiful.

LaDonna said...

You are so extremely talented in this way! God has given you the gift of hospitality and you are being so faithful to use it to honor Him!!

Ronda said...

We had such a fun time...Everything was beautiful, elegant and delicious! (We felt like we were at an elegant Italian restaurant!) Thanks alot... Catrena and Paul! We enjoy your friendship and had fun getting aquainted and reaquainted with other friends!

Bobbie said...

That sounds very nice. I heard good things about it. And I'm sure you had a great time too. Looks very beautiful.

Lisa said...

Looks like you had a good time, thanks for the invite....wish we could have been there.....would have been better then the basketball game!!!!!! You have a talent for this sort of thing!!!

Mary Ellen said...

What a terrific idea! A lot of work for your family I'm sure but it sounds like you enjoy doing that kind of thing so it was also fun for you. I'm so glad you took pictures - everything looks beautiful

sarahmfry said...

Oh, yes! It was marvelous. A wonderful memory of being treated to delicious food, beautiful surroundings and wonderful friends.

Pizza and cottage cheese are nice too, huh?

Goodness! Didn't realize it had been so long since I'd checked your blog! Looks great...can't wait to read your "story".

Thank you for 5 hours of uninterrupted benedryl-induced sleep last night before the screaming hit. lol