Aloha

Last night Brad and I went to the annual Rotary Auction. Brad had a couple extra tickets, so we persuaded Mom & Dad to come up from Gold Beach and join us. The four of us had never gone out before without kids, so it was a fun first! It was also the first time the kids stayed home in the evening without a hired babysitter. Marie and Julianne took care of dinner, snacks, and bedtime, and everything went great.

This year's theme was a Hawaiian luau. We were greeted at the door with flower leis, and after a dinner of Sweet & Sour chicken, the auction began. The auction is Rotary's main fundraiser of the year, so all Rotarians were asked to make donations to be auctioned off. There were some really neat items that had been donated, and I bid on a few, but being the bargain shopper that I am, I couldn't bring myself to continue bidding past the actual value of the item, even for a good cause.

Our donation was one Cream Cheese Braid Pastry a month for the next year. It sold for $220. The nice thing about this is the recipe makes two braids. So each month when I make one for the winner, we'll also have an extra for us to enjoy!