Your Parties: Marta Tyler, Weinie Roast

Tonight we had a get together at our house. I got the idea from my sister and I’m so glad I decided to give it a try. It was probably one of the funnest things we’ve done at our house yet. We had a big fire going all night in the fire pit, and everyone roasted their own hot dogs, and marshmallows. The best part is that I actually got to join in the fun instead of just being the hostess. I love that everyone cooks and prepares their own food. It makes it so easy on me, and it gives everyone something to do so it’s a great time filler. Everyone was kind enough to help with the food and bring something. I also loved that we were able to comfortably fit about 18 people in a close circle around the fire. It was the perfect size, and created the perfect setting for great conversation.
We played a game called, “Which person did this?…..” and I had everyone email me something interesting or funny that they’ve done in their life. I got some great responses and it was fun to guess about everyone. Some of the new things I learned are: Kari did a jump rope routine in hammer pants to “Can’t Touch This” in 6th grade for her talent show, Amy accidently cut Randy’s eye open in a water balloon fight, Alison got her tongue stuck to a metal pole, Matt mistakenly won a trip to NYC because he called himself a “winner”, Ryan is afraid of snakes….and the list goes on. It was a good laugh for all of us, and I feel like I know a little bit more about everyone. It was also a great ice breaker to get us all talking.
What a great evening. I’m so glad I have a house that I love to entertain in, and I’m starting to get more comfortable with hosting things at my house. Thanks for coming everyone, and we’ll do it again soon!!!!

The Indoor Weenie Roast - a wonderful night with friends

Erin and Kindle Spears- Telling all of us about how they hooked up.... all the following photos were taken as the rest of us were listening to their great story!!!


The Sandovals- Danielle and Yoezim


Maggie and Jeff Goebel


Crystal and Jason Thiriot


Steve and Sarah Jones


The gang


Trish and Garrett Tucker


Kristen and Jason Scott


Ashley and Brett Watts


Juanita and Mike Dill


The party has been over a couple hours and our home is looking like its old self (except for 4 Christmas trees in the living room). It's hard to believe that there were 18 of us here visiting, laughing, and sharing lots and lots of stories. These are the couples who came:
Jason and Crystal Thiriot
Yoezim and Danielle Sandoval
Kindle and Erin Spears
Steve and Sarah Jones
Mike and Juanita Dill
Brett and Ashley Watts
Jason and Kristen Scott
Garrett and Trisha Tucker
Jeff and Maggie Goebel

We began with dinner- BBQ hotdogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, chips, salsa, and lots of drinks and apple crisp with chocolate chip icecream. After dinner, it was close to 7:30 we had the game that we usually have at every party which is- "Guess which couple did this"

We really got to know each couple better as they shared fun little details about their married or dating lives. It is late and I can only think of a handful of moments but a few of them are:
One couple got engaged with a landfill as a backdrop
Another couple spent their honeymoon in an arcade
One girl bought her wedding dress before she and her 'then boyfriend' had even discussed marriage
One guy's bishop got him to break up with his girlfriend and tried to help him pick out a new girlfriend
One couple on their honeymoon were given a room with two twin beds because the hotel employee thought they were brother and sister
One couple became a taco on their deflated air mattress while vacationing

I really enjoyed this party! It was actually probably the most relaxing party we have had yet! It could be because I already knew the guests and already consider them all friends. Also.. I think I spent less time having to plan and worry about this party. It was not stressful at all. Though I was up late last night working on the Christmas trees. What I really enjoyed was that we were all able to talk and listen to each other. At the other parties we were all seated around long tables which made conversation with every guest almost impossible. But sitting in the big circle while eating on our laps really facilitated some great conversation. It was fun. Thanks to everyone who came. It was so yummy and fun and a great way to spend our evening. Well.. I've got to get to bed since tomorrow morning at 8:30 is the book club.

Apple Crisp

Here is my much requested recipe from the indoor Weenie Roast

Apple Crisp II
from allrecipes.com
12 servings

INGREDIENTS:
10 cups all-purpose apples,
peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup water
2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).
2. Combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Put 2/3 of the mixture spread evenly in the bottom of the lightly greased 9x13 pan.
3. Place the sliced apples over the crumble mixture in the pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.
4. Crumble remaining oat mixture evenly over the apples.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.

The Weenie Roast Details

This party has been less stressful than many of them. The atmosphere was quite casual. For this party I gave all guests a food assignment, most couples brought a pair of camp chairs to put around the 'fake' fire, and most important- THEY GOT A BABYSITTER LINED UP!

Food
Because the theme is an indoor weenie roast Jeff BBQ'd the hotdogs outside on the patio, and the rest of the food was the kind you eat when camping. We had chips right out of the bag, potato salad straight from the tub, some macaroni salads, cowboy caviar (I must get that recipe from Sarah), hotdogs, and apple crisp with vanilla chocolate chip icecream for dessert. We bought 2 huge packages of hotdogs at Costco and went through both. I think most all 18 adults each ate two.


Atmosphere
We wanted our living room to look like an actual clearing in the woods. I took some paper bags from a grocery store and tore them to make some rectangle signs. I wrote on them different directions using arrows and miles and instructions like 'Do Not Feed The Bears' or 'Stay on the Trailhead' I then took some matches and burned the edges. The signs were put on our front door, the path in front of our home, different walls in our living room and in the pine tree branches.
We needed to consolidate furniture in the living room so we just stacked a lot of it up into a corner of the room and then through a neutral colored sheet over it. It looked like a mountain. We put a few mini Christmas trees on it.
I had lanterns, flashlights and other lighting all around the room. I had a sign on the front door that said "Mt. Goebel 1 mile" and then a couple other signs in the 'forest' as well as many different sized pine trees and a table with red and white checked tablecloth to look like a picnic table.

Why I picked this theme:
When I was a kid we would have family reunions that would end with a weenie roast in a wash just outside of Mesquite. We would drive out into the desert to a ravine and set up some folding tables, get a fire going, us kids would climb through the desert and then the bonfire would begin. I also thought it would provide a more casual atmosphere to get to know our friends and see what it would be like to have a larger group.


The turnout was fantastic!!! It was our biggest group yet... though it felt more intimate than our other parties because we all were able to visit and listen to everyone share their fun stories. It was not at all a serious party... a totally different feel from regular church gatherings. As everyone left we talked about needing to do this again.. and I knew that I definitely wanted all these friends back in our home.

The invitation

Here is the invitation for our party coming up a week from this Friday. It will be an Indoor Weenie Roast.