Farewell dinner with dear friends

Recently there's been a lot of baking going on around here, to make gift plates for our friends. Raisin-nut oatmeal cookies, peanut clusters, chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies. My contribution was marshmallow treats, which certainly isn't baking, but I like them. Then, to be sure we had a great gluten-free dessert, Randy made seven layer cookies. Normally it calls for a graham cracker cookie crust, but he worked around that. 

 

Ken and Patty, who had gone home after he picked up his tractor, drove 2 hours back here to take us to a farewell dinner. Ashley and Dan were there with their children, in spite of Ashely feeling under the weather. Cheeseburger Jack drove in and joined us. Rod and Becky also came, and picked up the check. Before we ate, Randy and I handed out little presents. We had mugs filled with chocolates for the ladies, one for Jack, and t-shirts for Dan and Ken. Dan's t-shirt stated the Museum's unofficial motto: "Why'd you do it that way?", and Ken's had his favorite refrain: "Do you know what pisses me off? Everything!" We gave Rod something job-related. When something aggravated us during our time here, we would just remind ourselves: "Not my circus, not my monkeys". Rod is in charge, so technically it is his circus and these are his monkeys. So we got him a Monkey coffee cup!

It was a lovely dinner, and in spite of the terrible jokes and insults, it was clear that these nice people will miss us. It's lovely to be so appreciated.