These Friends = Family

After breakfast and games and goodbyes with the gang in East Grand Forks, we headed off to Harwood, ND to the home of our dear friends Jeff and Janelle and their kids (to refresh your memory, read this, this, this, and/or this). We have been friends with them our entire married lives, and no Christmas is complete without a stop by their home . . . because they not only give us gifts but also feed us delicious food, put us up in their comfortable home, and entertain us. What could be better?!

Janelle prepared a great supper, after which we exchanged gifts in the living room. Jeff and Janelle are godparents to Suzanna, whose birthday is in just a couple days, so they gave her a birthday present, too (a beautiful necklace). Then there was much playing and visiting. And, after the kids went to bed, more visiting and just a little bit of imbibing (Baileys Irish cream, a tradition of sorts for us--just ask Jeff, Janelle, or Susan about Winnipeg!). We'll leave midday tomorrow, allowing us time to do some post-Christmas shopping and exchanging of gifts that didn't fit and still make it home tomorrow night. Christmas isn't Christmas without seeing Jeff and Janelle, so now we can bring closure to the holiday!

Rule of thumb: the blondes are ours, and the brunettes are Jeff and Janelle's. Here, Megan looks on as Jordan (in the green) and Austen (in the blue) open gifts. In the corner of the pic are Hillary and Abigail (wearing the spectacles).

Hillary looks on as Jaden opens a gift. They're the same age, and tonight they're sharing Jaden's top bunk (Jordan sleeps in the bottom bunk). For now, their sleeping together is cute, but in a few years, I'm calling a halt to that practice! (P.S. The gratuitous crotch shot is of Jeff.)

For Christmas Megan had gotten a video game designed to teach one how to play the guitar, and here Abigail is trying it out, pushing buttons on the guitar to correspond to prompts on the TV screen as a song plays. Jeff and Megan are searching for a new selection of songs for the game as Suzanna looks on.

When you're as cute as Austen, you can sit on the furniture with impunity.

Here's Suzanna opening the lovely necklace that her godparents gave her for her 11th birthday. Suzanna has always referred to Jeff and Janelle's kids as her own godsiblings, and now even Abigail and Hillary call them their brothers and sister. We're just one big happy family! (Is the key to family happiness seeing one another only once or twice a year? Hm . . .)