A beautiful little dinner party

You know what they say, that doing things for other people makes you feel good in return? Well, it's totally true.

I have wanted to do something for my friend who recently had a baby, and finally we planned on them coming over for dinner.

I didn't plan a crazy elaborate dinner, instead I figured a simple menu of homemade taco and pepperoni pizza as well as homemade monkey bread, which I have never tried before.

It started out quite enjoyable, because Nate had the night off so I roped him into helping me prep dinner, which we rarely do together. I made the caramel sauce for the monkey bread while he measured out the Bisquick mix. After I mixed everything up, I rolled balls for him and he covered them with a cinnamon-sugar mixture and plopped them delicately into the caramel sauce. He immediately made a joke about my dough balls not staying together and how he had to re-roll each of them.

"Now I know why I don't usually ask you to help me," I said.

"I'm just a perfectionist," he answered.

We just smiled and laughed and continued on, and it was delightful.

When the monkey bread was finished, we started on the pizzas, and I asked him to flatten the dough onto one of the rectangular pans. He didn't know what to do.

What?

"You've never made homemade pizza before?" I asked.

"I've topped them, but I've never made the dough before."

"Well, it's time you learn then."

I laughed as he pulled out the dough ball and got it stuck all over his hands. I had to peel it off and spray it with olive oil so that it wasn't quite so sticky, and I just smiled as I shook my head. After the dough baked a few minutes, he just let me finish the pizza toppings up.

Our friends made it over with their wonderful new baby, and we ate quickly while he finished up his nap. The party moved to the living room when little Silas decided it was time for him to eat, and we just talked and laughed at the baby, and I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that I was the first person to ever coax smiles from the five-week-old.

I mean, I know that I made dinner, but really, when they left, I felt so refreshed and happy. It was wonderful to spend time with them and wonderful to hopefully provide them a relaxing evening out of the house.

It's so much better to give than receive.