And so it goes....today, one fine lady passed away.  My dear mother-in-law, Petronilla or Pat to all who knew her as friend and family.  She was 90 + years old and lived a long and happy life.  It was her time and she finally let go of her ties to this earth and flew to Jesus.  May she now feel the warm embrace of the God she knew and loved.  May she rest in peace and comfort.  May she now remember all those memories of the past that were caught somewhere between her birth and death.  May they be once again fresh and vivid.  And may all of us who are left to mourn her passing be comforted by that.  May we never forget her smile, her strength, the lessons she taught us.  May we thank God always for the woman who graced our lives with her presence, whether she was the daughter, the sister, the cousin, the wife, the mother, the aunt, the mother-in-law, the grand-mother, great-grandmother, or the friend.  Bless you dear Pat...fly to Jesus, fly to Jesus, fly to Jesus, and live....

T' was the night before Christmas and all through the house,

not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

And the reason?  They are hiding from all the noise

in the Ethridge house.

Well, these are not very nice mice and they don't know good music when they hear it.  We have been being serenaded each evening for the last two, since Miss Sojo was given the opportunity of opening a present under the tree early.  She absolutely loves this harmonica.  She wants it as soon as she has finished her breakfast each morning.  She is quite good at it.  A few movements thrown in there too.  I sincerely think that by the end of January, she might go on the road with it.  Her Baba often does duets with her and they make a fine team together. 

Sojo is so doggone cute.  She will play for us, making sure we are watching her on Skype.  She will suddenly stop, wait one tiny second and say, "Gong Gong clap for Sojo" or "Popo clap for Sojo" and oh do we clap.  We feel like we have just heard her play on the stage of Carnegie Hall and we are in the front row.  If we could we would throw a million rose petals in the air for her.  We love her performances.  As of late, she has become so much more engaged in our Skype calls.  No more of the "hi", eat my breakfast, go play with my toys, I know you are there watching me looks and then "goodbye" with thrown kisses before we sign off.  She is now, right there, showing us what she is doing, talking to us, asking questions, wanting the answers.  Yesterday, as she was putting stickers on herself and her Mama, she wanted to put a sticker on us too.  Mama stopped that from happening.  Sometimes, I think she thinks we live in the computer.  No wonder she has that look of confusion when she sees us in the flesh. Soon, we expect a call from her alone while Mama and Baba are upstairs still sleeping.  Skype is certainly our friend when we are so far away, but we still can't wait to see that girl in the flesh again and hug her for real and kiss that little face, rather than through a computer, hugging ourselves and throwing kisses.  For now...it works.  Counting the days till we can forget about it for a bit.

I think I can hear some harmonica playing in the back of my mind...."Popo is clapping Sojo".

It is a quiet day in our house.  Gifts are wrapped and under the tree.  Not many cookies to bake, because "someone" can't keep her hands out of the cookie jar and there are no little ones to make them for.  The tree is a glitter with ornaments and lights.  The outside is crisp and cool, allowing for a glowing fire inside to warm us up and create a Christmassy atmosphere.  The lights outside create a festive glow up and down the street.  Waiting until tomorrow to clean up the telltale signs of Christmas in the works...wrapping paper, ribbon, dust fairies and a bit of Christmas clutter.  Looking forward to Mass on Christmas Eve and family time on Christmas Day.  Missing the Thailand connection, but ever so thankful for last Christmas and memories that linger in our hearts.

With the quiet, comes more time to reflect upon this joyous time of year.  Reflections of Advent and the waiting, anticipation of the coming of a tiny baby who brings us peace, hope, love and joy each year.  Each year, I long for this quiet time to reflect.  Yet, knowing that part of the family won't be here leaves me with another type of longing.  I need to take that longing and turn it into something beautiful.  I look outside after a day filled with dark, low clouds overflowing with rain and see the sun peaking through, bushes glistening with rain drops and know that each new day brings peace, hope, love and joy when we allow ourselves to look for it.  And so, I look at this sweet cherub and know that we will once again share Christmas together; sitting on the couch, looking at the Christmas tree, baking cookies, reading Christmas stories, putting out the crèche, visiting Christmas displays around the city, maybe a trip to the zoo, telling her about the desert once more, hugging one another, laughing, giggling, running, jumping and playing.  Until then, I will put away these thoughts and spend time reflecting on this day so many years ago, when a young woman and a carpenter made their way to Bethlehem in the cold of the night, to a stable, where that baby brought that peace, hope, love and joy. 

Christmas blessings from all of us....to all of you..... 

I have to believe that when God decided to let us live long enough to be grandparents he had more in mind that it just being our reward for having survived parenthood.  I think He wanted us to get a wee taste of what Heaven might be like.  Sojo has sure been a "taste of Heaven" for us.  Every little thing she says or does is like the icing on the cake or the top of a mountain peak for us.  Recently, since starting pre-school, she seems to be growing into such a big girl.  Talking more, interacting more, etc.  It has only been 2 months since I have seen her and she seems like a different little person than I left in Thailand.  But, what fun she is and we delight in the daily blogs from her Mama with pictures telling us the antics of her days.  This latest one tickled us to pieces.  The pre-school is having a Christmas Performance.  Sojo has been less than thrilled with the whole costume idea.  Funny, because she seems to love "dressing up" with assorted hats, different colored shoes, etc.  Whenever the teacher or her parents would ask her about the costume, she would say, "Sojo, no wear -- too small".  Her Mama assumed that it was maybe too small.  The teacher said, not to worry -- dress her in white.  So, Tara was surprised when the teacher sent home the costume to see if maybe they could convince her to wear it by having it at home.  And so they did.  It wasn't too small after all and look how cute and sweet she looks.  Look how much fun she is having.  I am not sure what she is supposed to be ... an angel, a snow angel, a snow princess or some other sweet Christmas thing.  Whatever, she looks like she is having fun.  Let's hope on Friday when she is supposed to wear it, she will.  Maybe she will declare once more that "Sojo, no wear ... too small".  Whatever, we are hoping that Mama and Baba take Lots and Lots of pictures for us to see.  How we wish a Snow Princess had swept us off to the airport this morning.  It's too late now...we couldn't make it if we tried.  We will settle for pictures and stories.

BE STILL MY HEART.  WHAT A JOY.

The stores have had Christmas things in them since before Thanksgiving.  Heck! Maybe even before Halloween.  So, why wasn't I able to find one...not even one, Baby Jesus out there? 

I have been planning this Teen Advent Labyrinth activity with the youth from my church for about a month and part of this was to have a small manger in the center with the baby Jesus.  The teens would sit there for a few minutes and reflect upon the journey they had made to the center before they made their journey back out again.  This was to represent the Magi's journey.  So, maybe thinking about what the Magi might have thought along the journey, while there and then again as they went on their journey back home.  So, this Baby Jesus was important.  I wanted Him to be realistic.  I couldn't even find a small Nativity Set.  I guess these are things you find in specialty stores, not you run of the mill department or discount stores.  I asked around church and one woman who worked on Liturgy Arts & Environment things said she had a manger that her husband had made years before, but didn't know what had happened to Baby Jesus.  He had been a baby doll, so she thought she might have given him away.  I was looking for one of those cherub looking Jesus'.  I found one that had Mary and Joseph and Jesus all together.  And I mean all together...they were connected.  I could find Santa, Elves, Snowmen, even angels, but not a Baby Jesus was to be found.  So, off I went to the toy department to find a baby doll that might look Jesus like.  Every doll I came to either had lots of hair and was obviously a girl or did something.  Like talking or burping or drinking or some other obnoxious thing.  Finally, I found a small bald baby doll that did nothing but lay there and thought to myself, "this could work".  Off I went then to find swaddling clothes.  Now just what are swaddling clothes?  According to Encarta Dictionary it is a plural noun and means: 

wrapping for baby: long strips of linen or another soft material, used in some cultures to wrap babies in order to keep them still and calm.

Okay!  So, where does one find long strips of linen?  Well, running out of time, I opted for the old birdseye diapers, rather than making another trip to Joanne's Fabrics. I could not find the older kind that were a large strip of fabric that was folded for a diaper.  These were pre-folded.  Okay!  So, I buy them, take them home along with my new "Baby Jesus" and find some straw left over from our manger scene in our house.  I put the straw in the manger, I wrap Baby Jesus in the diapers and gently place Him in the Manger.  I look at Him and think, "He is Perfect". 

  Oh, I am still a little miffed that Jesus doesn't seem to be as important in the stores as trees, toys, Santa, Snowmen and Elves, but I realized that in searching for Jesus, sometimes we find Him in the least expected places.  He isn't always where we think He will be. 

The Advent Walk on the Labyrinth went well with the teens and I think they found Jesus in their hearts.  I don't think it mattered that He wasn't as Jesus looking as the ones we see in a Nativity Scene.  I don't think that He might have reminded him of a baby doll from years gone by.  I think what mattered that they made the journey, they thought about the Magi and they found Jesus in their hearts.

May you imagine for one moment the Magi and make a journey in your mind and find Jesus in your heart. 

Sojo, I hope this Christmas, there is a Baby Jesus in your house and in your heart.

Well, I am attempting today to get small packages wrapped and ready to mail to Thailand.  I had bought a bag of M & M's for someone there that I know loves them.  That would be the Mama and the Baba in the house.  However, I cannot locate them and NO, I didn't eat them.  I know that the minute I get the box to the post office, I will find them.  Sorry kids!

Now I am not the most creative person in the world.  Lord knows I want to be and try to be at various times in my life, but it never seems to stick.  I get a bit of it going and then lose it some how.  My sewing machine has been in the shed for years and since it is over 40 years old, it needs a whole lot of oiling and cleaning up.  So, I saw this Singer machine at Tar-jay last week on sale for $65.  Now, I couldn't get my old Kenmore cleaned and oiled for that, so I bought it.  I really wanted one of those new fandangled ones that is computerized and quilts and embroiders and does everything but sing to you (maybe it does that too), but knowing my track history of doing something once and then never again, I decided that maybe I should go for the $65 one and see where that takes me.  Plus, who on earth has $2-3 thousand for a sewing machine?  If I decide this is something I really want to pursue, I am sure I can find something in between.  However, since that machine is still in the box, something tells me, it won't go far.

After the purchase of the machine, I went to Michael's and bought some red and green felt to make some Christmassy things for Sojo.  And so today, the day before things have to be mailed, I sat down and made three ornaments for her little tree.  Softies so no one has to worry about breakage.  Here they are:

Now I haven't heard a word from Martha Stewart wanting me to come on her show to demonstrate how to do this.  It is really pretty simple...take a cookie cutter and cut the felt out with pinking sicissors and then take yarn and using a darning needle, stitch it.  Oh, you start at the top and end at the top and then you have the little hanger for it and you stuff it with "stuffing".  I didn't have any, so I took an old pillow I wasn't using and now have enough "stuffing" for more ornaments than I will ever make.  I thought a bird, a heart and a star were just perfect and the beads in front...those are the same beads that were on our tree last year. The ones that Sojo loved to go up to the tree with and shake them and shake them and shake them some more.  She thought that was the best fun ever.  So, we thought we would send her some for her little tree at home.  Maybe it will bring back some memories for her of her first Christmas here in Tucson as they create their own in Thailand this year.

Memories of Christmas past...Memories we cherish

At this time of year, most of us are knee deep in decorating the Christmas Tree and the house and the outside, etc.  We are also up to our ears in ideas or lack of ideas for gifts to give.  Several years ago, we told friends and relatives that we had been sending gifts to for years, that we were going to give a donation to charity in their name instead of sending a gift and hoped they would do the same.  And so it started.

When our daughter got married 3 years ago, she and her husband didn't want the traditional gifts.  They asked people to give to Heifer International.

Heifer started back in the 1940's when a man decided that it made a whole lot more sense to give someone a cow that could provide milk for years, rather than a cup of milk that would only provide for one day.  Now, Heifer gives animals of all sorts:  cows, water buffalos, chickens, ducks, bees, trees, etc. to people all over the world and they are able to provide for their families without a handout.  They even pass on any offspring to others.

At Christmas time, we give our kids gifts, but we also donate to Heifer in their name.  We give less gifts and more to charity.  For Sojo, she will get a stuffed animal to represent the animal we donate for.  Last year it was a bunny.  Maybe we will get a portion of a pig this year for her. 

While our daughter and her husband were waiting to adopt their little girl from China, we were introduced to Half The Sky. 

Half the Sky provides support to numerous orphanages in China.  Last year during the unusually cold winter, they provided blankets, socks, food and other things so that these precious babies would not perish in the cold.  They were there again when an earthquake hit.  I often think about our Sojo while she waited in an orphanage.  Maybe Half the Sky was there for her. 

Or buy one of their greeting cards:  Check out the web site

Did you know that more children die from unsafe drinking water than from Malaria or HIV?  Can you imagine not having safe drinking water for your child? Look at this web site for more information: 

http://childrensafedrinkingwater.com/index.shtml

Or, consider a PUR water filter for yourself and your family.  Proctor & Gamble donates a percentage from each filter to be used for clean water for children around the world. 

I am not endorsing any of these charities.  I am simply throwing out an idea.  If you want to simplify your Christmas and help others.  Look into one of these charities or find one that touches your heart.  Check them out.

As Christmas rapidly approaches, may the true spirit of giving be yours.  May your tree be surrounded with those you love.