My Funny Valentine

Our little family started planning early for Valentine's Day this year. It all started with the Valentine's Day party listed on Ben's preschool calendar.  Because Ben is always anxious to do arts and crafts projects we decided to visit Michael's Craft Store on a visit to Reno to get the necessary supplies.  Some blank cards with envelopes, construction paper, glue, and googly eyes turned into these cards in which we also enclosed stickers for each of Ben's classmates.

Since Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday this year all the boys dressed in red shirts to attend church and other activities later on in the day.

We also decided to make Valentine cookies to share with our friends.

Our Valentine's Day evening was incredibly fun for all of us.  The boys were invited to the Ferrall family home for dinner, crafts, and fun while Brian and I had an evening for ourselves.  We were lucky to have been previously given a gift card to the Hyatt so we opted to attend the special Valentine's Day dinner at the Lone Eagle Grille right on the lake. 

The four course menu was superb with Brian having the Baked Fanny Bay Oysters with Wilted Arugula, and Dungeness Crabmeat, Blood Orange Sauce Maltaise with Caviar & Red Salad with Marinated Root Vegetables, Black Truffle Vinaigrette & Sautéed Dover Sole with Artichoke Hearts, Pearl Potatoes and Pine Nuts &  Chocolate Cake Marquise with Sauce Anglaise and Frozen Apricot Parfait with Raspberry Sauce. 

I enjoyed Smoked Duck Breast Napoleon with Caramelized Apples, Walnuts and Parmesan Tuiles & Red Salad with Marinated Root Vegetables, Black Truffle Vinaigrette & Mesquite Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Wild Mushroom Hash, Madeira Sauce & Chocolate Cake Marquise with Sauce Anglaise and Frozen Apricot Parfait with Raspberry Sauce.

When we arrived to pick up the boys they had made their own pizzas for dinner, made Valentine's Day photo frames, built a fort, played the keyboard, and generally wreaked havoc with their buddies.  It ended up being an incredibly late night for all of us but at least we had the next day, President's Day, off from work and school.

A huge thank you  to our dear friends Marci for the gift card, and Bill and Kristen for the opportunity to have a kid-free evening!