(left to right) Brad, Dan, Jed and JeremiahIn High School, I hung out with a group of guys who were, with the exception of Jeremiah, all from Wallsburg. I loved my Wallsburg boys. Dan, Brad, and Jedd. To this day, I still call Dan's mom "Mom" and his little sister "Sis". Jedd has been one of my best friends since I was 8 years old (and was my childhood "Love of my Life"). Brad was always the goofy friend you could depend on for a laugh. Brad passed away in a car accident back in 2002. I still have a love for his family (whom I've sort of adopted as extended family). His older sister and brother-in-law are some of my parents best friends and we have vacationed with them several times. They are often invited to family functions. I've always loved Brad's Mom and Dad. They just have a wonderful goodness about them.
Brad's Dad (Dale) moonlights as Santa. Who knew?! I mean, I knew they moved to Alaska, but who knew that all this time, back in the day, I was hanging out at the REAL Santa's house?! This year for my family's Christmas Party, which almost always includes extra family and friends who are also considered "family", Santa Dale came.
When Santa Dale came in, ringing his bells, all of the kids had the "HOLY CRAP!" look on their face. Most ran out of the room and hid. :) It was really cute / funny. They were all in shock that the REAL Santa made a stop at THEIR party. They all eventually came around. Except Archer.
Archer ran outside. He was running around the house and we couldn't figure out what he was doing. Then when Jeremiah convinced him to come inside, he went into my parents bathroom, sat in the tub and started bawling. I went in to talk to him because he was so upset. When I got him calmed down enough that he could talk, I asked him what was wrong. He said that he just wanted to know if that was the REAL Santa or not. And when he went outside, he couldn't see a sleigh or the reindeer, but that he looked real. After about 10 minutes with Archer, he finally trusted me that it was the REAL Santa and how we could tell was that he has a real beard. The fake Santa's all have the cotton pretend beards, but ours - he was the real deal. Even when he approached Santa, you ccould see the fear. He wouldn't really talk to him at first. And when he did, he was nervous. Afterwards, though, Archer was glowing. Because he met the REAL Santa. (Thanks, Santa Dale.) :)
(I apologize for the pictures - they were taken with my camera phone. The lighting wasn't great, there was something fuzzy on my lens, etc...)
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