Game night with family and friends

My sister Sharon and her three youngest kids came into town last Saturday along with Sharon's friend Shellie. (Shellie has an annual business trip in Kansas City, Missouri, and Sharon has been tagging along on the trip for the past few years.) I like it because it means that I get to see Sharon and some of her kids when I normally wouldn't.

I decided to invite a few of my friends over on Saturday night to hang out and play games with my family. I'm always looking for an excuse to have game nights and get-togethers with friends and family, so I jumped at the chance! Here are a few pictures from Saturday evening. The first picture is of my youngest sister Chandra and me, the second picture is of my dear friend Nathan and me, the third picture is of my friends Laura and Barbara with Chandra and me, and the last picture is with my sister Kristin and her husband Scott, along with Chandra and me. (Don't we all look great in our purple?!)

I just have to brag about my sister Kristin for a minute. She's an amazing cook and she's always making yummy things for dinner and decadent treats for desserts. Since Saturday was Shellie's birthday, we had a special dinner. Kristin made chicken Caesar salad and garlic cheddar biscuits. This is one of my favorite dinners. For dessert, Kristin made a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Kristin not only makes beautiful desserts, but she always makes sure to dress each piece up so that it's visually pleasing. Here's what the cheesecake looked like.

First, here's a picture of the whole cheesecake:

Next here's a picture of how Kristin dressed up each slice of the cheesecake:

(She put a dollop of homemade whipped cream on top and stuck a fresh raspberry and a mint leaf in it. Then she drizzled raspberry sauce around the cheesecake and finished it off by shaving some white chocolate on top.) What a masterpiece! For the record, it tastes just as good as it looks!