Fast Away the Old Year Passes

 Won't happen again for another 100 years!  

Only true in the US but still fun to consider!  Everywhere else it is 31/12/23.

 

Happy New Year!

Nativity Scene Fun

 When I was a little girl our family lived in Sicily while my Daddy served in the US Navy. I know that they didn't have a lot of money but they still bought a beautiful Italian nativity scene.  I loved to play with it when I was a child.  When my mother eventually gave it to me, she said that I was to allow my children to play with it too.  I think I objected some.  She had raised one little girl who was by nature quite gentle.  I was raising 1 gentle little girl but also 3 rambunctious boys. My mother was adamant that she wanted her grandchildren to be able to enjoy the familiar nativity story characters.  

And they did with some notable additions! Some years we had GI Joes attacking the stable or Teen-age Mutant Ninja Turtles sleeping by the manager.  Or He Man - Master of the Universe helping the shepherds. In spite of all that, it survived and now Isabella is playing with it.  She is more of a 'gentle' girl.

For some reason she loves putting baby Jesus on the top of the stable. I think that Mary, Joseph and one Wise Man are praying for his safe return.  Last year she told me a long story about 'mean shepherds' who stole the baby.  I guess they are up to their old tricks this year too.

I love that she gave Joseph and the angel baskets. I assume they contain presents for Jesus.

Or maybe their lunch??? I'm not sure.

Every child who comes to our house is fascinated by the Caganar in my typical Catalan nativity scene or 'pessebre'.  And Isabella is no exception!

She put him front and center while normally he is hidden somewhere in the scene.

In Barcelona the decorations often consist of a large model of the city of Bethlehem, more than just the typical manager scene.  At the Christmas market you can buy not only the traditional figures but Roman soldiers, women spinning or baking bread, men working....I was amazed by the variety.  You can also buy trees and shrubbery made of cork.  Hiding somewhere in each scene you will find the caganar. 

Mine is the traditional Catalan man with the senyera or Catalan flag around his chest and a Catalan shepherd's hat on his head.

And just in case you are unsure what he is doing, this view will leave no doubt.

Why you may ask? I've heard lots of explanations but I like the one my Spanish teacher gave me.

She says that it is to show our common humanity.

It doesn't matter if you are the King of Spain or a beggar on the street, this is a part of your life.

Sort of like the children's book, "Everyone Poops".

You can buy Caganar figures from every walk of life.

Politicians to football stars to cartoon characters!

Even our own politicians aren't spared.

I really wish I had bought one of these.

Leo Messi with his Ballon d'Or or his World Cup trophy

An interesting piece of Catalan culture!

I love mine.  I love the memories of going to the Christmas Market by the cathedral with friends and buying from the same two sweet older ladies, then carrying it all home on the metro.  

This is truly one of my treasures.

And if you are wondering the caganar is hiding behind the haystack!

Too Much Pink???

 Mary and Mark are fostering a sweet new baby girl.  Because she is a foster baby, we can't show her face on social media.  You will just have to trust me when I say that she is a cutie!

We won't know for awhile if she will be staying permanently with them but I still decided to get out the box of baby girl clothes that my little Mary once wore. I've been saving them for her. 

They will be in the mail to her tomorrow.

I may have overdone the pink!

But I'm glad I did since I had three boys after Mary!

The white dress on the top was given to me by the Relief Society Presidency in our ward and Mary wore it when she was blessed.

The yellowish sweater was mine!  It's 70 years old and still in good shape.  I wore it and Mary wore it....now this sweet little one can too!  The other sweater, hat and booties were made by friends in our ward.

Such sweet memories of my darling little girl.

It's hard to know exactly what to pray for in cases like this.  Of course, I want Mary and Mark to get to adopt her BUT it seems wrong to hope and pray that the parents don't get off drugs.  I don't feel comfortable with that. I think this is the perfect time to pray, "Thy will be done."

I am glad that Mary and Mark can give this little angel a solid foundation of love.  No matter what happens eventually, right now she is well taken care of and well loved.  

Jackson is enjoying being a 'big brother'.  Mary reports that the baby actually sleeps better than Jackson does.  He has never been a good sleeper....but we love him to pieces anyway!!!

 

Photography Fun

 Ah...the all important family Christmas photo moment....

Mom figuring out how to use her watch to take a photo

The best one

First 'squishy' attempt

2nd time's the charm!

Wildly excited for Christmas! Just look at all that enthusiasm!

Cady and Matt attempt 'blue steel'..

Serious father-daughter....

Serious couple

Family photos can be fun!

Christmas Day

 After our traditional meal of 'Breakfast pizza', cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate, we started opening presents.

Only food photo was this one of all the 'fixins' for the hot chocolate. Mini chocolate mint chips were a particular favorite this year.

Several of us were the recipients of 'functional art' from Matt's business - Transmigration Woodworking.

Scott got a utility knife, which comes in handy for his work in Portland.

For George who has a dish of ice cream almost every night - an ice cream scoop

And I got one of his high quality pizza cutters.

Cady got a corkscrew and bottle opener.

Aren't they beautiful?  Who knew that skateboards had such nice wood?

Nice jackets, new crocs, a wonderful book, Messi vs Ronaldo - One Rivalry - Two GOATS

Such thoughtful gifts all around! 

Johnny and Monica got a gift card for Cheesecake Factory and a kind offer from me to watch Isabella while they went out to eat.  She was having none of that though, as she LOVES Cheesecake Factory!  You can see how thrilled she was!

The uncles gave our pink loving princess the perfect coat.

And she also got pink roller skates!

And some skating lessons....

Isabella was thrilled when she opened a gift bag to find a new I-phone.  We reuse our gift bags and George had actually gotten ME a new phone but he failed to notice the "To: Isabella - From Grandma and Grandpa" on the other side side of the bag.  She wasn't too disappointed!!!!

I know that presents are not the most important part of Christmas but they surely are fun!

 

 

Christmas Eve

 Oh the fun of family traditions and the occasional tweeks of those traditions to make them even better. 

Ornament making.....

Just look at that concentration

This year we used pipe cleaners, pony beads, bells and ribbon for our creations.

No glue gun involved.  George was really the brains behind this project. If I am honest, he is the brains behind most projects.  I get the ideas and then he works out how to accomplish what I want.

I think our stars turned out quite well.

I love the creativity and slight differences.

As per our new tradition, we had Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup, delicious rolls and lunch meats and cheeses.

I love using my Christmas Spode!  

Next we played games.  This year instead of coming up with all the games myself, I asked each of the kids to plan a game. Very fun to have some new games mixed in with a couple of the old standbys, like Isabella's favorite 'Christmas Tree Stack'.  When she tried stacking them a couple of weeks ago, she had problems but she has practiced and practiced.  That effort paid off as she was just about as fast as the adults.

A couple of our games involved marshmallows - 'Hungry, Hungry Reindee' and 'Hot Chocolate Marshmallow Toss'.

SO we ended up with a trash can full of uneatable ones. 

Grandpa Lewis would be upset at the waste but Dr. Karen would be happy at avoiding eating marshmallows that had passed through multiple hands!

Scott was our overall game winner this year!

His first win!

I think that Matt has won twice,  one of his friends won once, George won once, Monica won once, and now Scott puts his name in the winners column.

Cady had a great idea that we should get a trophy to pass around.  

I definitely plan to do that next year.

After our chocolate fountain dessert, everyone went home to wait for Santa's arrival.

And big thanks to George for also master minding the chocolate fountain each year!

It's a labor of love.

Merry and Bright

 When I was a little girl, we would always spend at least one evening driving around our town looking at Christmas lights.  Now Lonoke was pretty small so it didn't take too long but I remember the thrilling feeling of all those lights.  My cousin shared this quote on her Facebook page and as I think about looking at lights in a town of 2000 people, I realize what actually made the magic of Christmas for me.

I hope my adult children remember 'magical' Christmas times as I do!

They were certainly loved so much!

This display in our neighborhood definitely fits the 'magical' definition!

I am sure I have never seen quite so many decorations in one yard!

Isabella loved it too.  When we got out of the car to take a look she said, "These people must be rich!!!" Grandpa instantly replied, "Well they USED to be rich."

We also took a stroll through the fantastic display at the Scentsy Commons.  

Scott was a little skeptical but was a good sport and walked with us.

Isabella really loves her Daddy!  

One of my favorite Argentine words is 'upa'.  It is what little children say when they want to be carried.

I have always smiled when little Isabella said, "Upa"!

Tall 8 year old Isabella still likes it when her daddy occasionally carries her. 

I love spending time with this family of mine and enjoying the magic lights of Christmas!