Oh, What A Beautiful Day

Today was gorgeous. Cameron & I spent a large amount of his awake time outside in our yard. We hosted a romantic dinner on our patio for a couple in the ward (I offered it at a Relief Society service auction), so I wanted to get the yard and patio ready for them & Cameron was a great helper. We swept the patio -Cameron really like banging the copper dustpan that we have- & put up white Christmas lights & draped tulle on the arbor. I was really excited to pull out our China for the first time. We put on a white table cloth and our China pattern is white with white flowers and a silver rim. To keep with the white on white theme, I cut some white roses from our bush and put them inside a cylindrical vase that was half full of water. I put a white pillar candle on either side of the vase & scattered rose petals around the whole thing. For a touch of color I used some pink roses in the napkins & for some of the petals around the centerpiece. I put a single white rose on each plate as finishing touch. To start off the meal I made a spring mix salad with cranberries, almonds, tomatoes & some home made Italian style dressing & garlic bread . The main course was a lasagna with meat sauce. Dessert was my favorite part. I made a strawberry & blackberry tart with a cream cheese filling on a Ritz cracker crust and right before I took it out to them I drizzled it with chocolate.
After everyone left Brian, Cameron & I headed out side for a little dancing. Cameron didn't let Brian & I dance together very much, he didn't even want to let Brian dance with me while I held him. Cameron just didn't want to share his Mom. Cameron is like that most of the time, if he sees us cuddling or hugging he has to either be in on it or break it up. After Cameron went to bed, Brian & I went outside and danced the night away to one of my favorite crooners, Frank Sinatra.
If you couldn't tell, I really like being a hostess. I love making everything look pretty and setting up the atmosphere with different touches that reach all the senses (we played Frank Sinatra love music in the back ground). We watched & fed the couple's 3 children while they got to enjoy their meal outside and have some alone couple time. Cameron really enjoyed having the company, though toward the end of the evening he was eager to have his Mama pay attention to him instead of everyone else. I really had a lot of fun getting everything ready. Brian and I have decided that we will have to host a dance on our patio sometime when it is a little warmer in the evening & that the next time we have people over for dinner we need to take advantage of our patio and eat outside.