Fired up!

My brother Brad and his wife Tif bought us a portable fireplace for Christmas. While you may wonder what one does with a portable fireplace, I will tell you, you are not alone. (As it ends up, it is more like a portable campfire than fireplace. It has that great campfire smell and is perfect for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.)
It took two grown men with graduate degrees over an hour to put the thing together, with a few spare parts left over. Those nuts and bolts aren't important, right? Besides, Benji is always looking for spare bike parts. I am discovering that this is the gift that keeps on giving.

Well we tried to use it right away, but all of our wood was wet and we got smoked out. Campfire smell is good. Wet wood---not so much. Fast forward one week. Although it was a little chilly last night, we couldn't wait one more day to put our new fireplace to use. Our kids have been begging and begging. So while I cleaned up dinner, Benji worked his magic, starting the fire and fanning the flames with our snow shovel. He was so busy maintaining the flames he didn't even get a marshmallow! (Nor did he want one. He prefers his sugar in liquid form.) By the time I went outside, there was a nice little fire and three kids delighted to be poking around in it. Benji stood by, watching and fanning. Long story short: We played, we roasted, we stunk! My kids have never been happier. Thanks Uncle Brad! A good time was had by all.