Christmas Eve

During grad school, Ben had several classes with a girl named Heather. She very quickly became a family friend, and the kids now call her Aunt Heather. When we moved to Michigan, we were excited to find out that her parents live about 10 minutes from us. Heather and her family have been very kind to us and we have grown to love them. We spent Christmas Eve with them and had an absolutely wonderful evening. Dan and Leslie, Heather's parents, are kind and thoughtful. They are great with the kids, and whenever we go to their house we feel completely at ease. We never feel like our kids are annoying or a burden. We hope that our future guests will feel as comfortable at our house as we feel at theirs.

We had a delicious dinner and great conversation, and before we knew it, the evening was drawing to a close. Then there was a knock at the door. Santa knew we were going to be at the Swanson's and he left jammies for the kids on the doorstep. He also left a bag of toys. The kids liked their new jammies, but they LOVED their new toys. We changed the kids and let them play for a few minutes...then we came home and got everyone into bed so Santa could come to our house. 3 of the 4 kids went right to sleep. Can you guess who didn't want to go to bed...yep...Bri. Little stinker Bri was up until almost midnight saying "Ho Ho Ho, merry mimas" over and over again. She drives me crazy, cracks me up, and warms my heart all at the same time.