Gingerbread, refugees and roommates

With a very difficult and emotional Saturday, I was happy to be part of an uplifting evening full of frosting, warm cider, and good company on Sunday. Both their fabulous location in Columbia City as well as their employment ties to World Relief allowed my old roommates to host a stellar Christmas party for several refugee families (most of which are from Eritrea) and neighbor kids. The house was full of children getting high on sweets, laughter, dancing, and probably Lynessa's gas from the chili. Good times were had by all. Highlights from the night:
1) picking up an Eritrean family with Kristen in Lynessa's nasty old Subaru (which is only worth about $100 and is literally growing moss) and trying to teach my carload of kids "Jingle Bells" as the car nearly broke down on the hill 2) receiving language lessons from the adorable Natalia...her family has only been in the US for 3 months 3) eating Lindsey's famous banana bread 4) and of course, being around some of my favorite old roommates ever. My not so favorite part of the evening...a 8-year old repeatedly telling me I should have a husband...not only that but I should have obtained one about 6 years ago. I gave her the task of finding me one at the party, but she never came back...