Endings & Beginnings

* Risa tuvo hoy su ultimo dia de trabajo en la Casa de Te. Sara sigue trabajando.
*Trabajamos casi todo la noche en los varios discursos que quieren presentar los ninos en el Torneo de la Universidad de Concordia (Irvine) dentro de dos semanas. Nos queda mucho que hacer!
*Risa worked her last day at A Cup of Tea. Sara is still working.
* We worked all night tonight on speeches for the Concordia University Tournament (Irvine) coming up in a couple of weeks. So much to do!

December 28: On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me *Four Calling Birds (the Four Gospels and the Four Evangelists proclaiming the good news,) three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.
28 de diciembre: El cuarto día de Navidad mi amor me mandó *Cuatro pajaritos (los Cuatro Evangelios y los cuatro Evangelistas que proclaman la buena noticia de Dios,) tres gallinitas, dos tortolitas y una perdiz picando peras del peral.

The Twelve Days of Christmas/12 Dias de Navidad

The words from this song first appeared in a book titled Mirth Without Mischief (1780) in England. It describes "The Twelve Days of Christmas" as a "memory and forfeits game" played by children at that time. Another source claims that it was actually more than a repetitious melody, but a catechism song to help young Catholics learn the tenets of their faith. This source has since been questioned, but I still find the singing of it helpful and lovely.

Las letras de esta cancion aparecieron por primera vez en un libro titulado, Mirth Without Mischief (1780) en Inglaterra. En el, describe "Los 12 Dias de Navidad" como un "juego de memoria y de prendas" al que jugaban los ninos catolicos en aquel tiempo. Aunque en actualidad se ha cuestinado el origen de este catechismo, me parece didactico y bello.

December 25: On the First Day of Christmas my true love gave to me *a partridge in a pear tree (The partridge in a pear tree is to represent Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, whose birthday we celebrate on December 25. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge that feigns injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings, recalling the expression of Christ's sadness over the fate of Jerusalem:
"Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often would I have sheltered you under my wings, as a hen does her chicks, but you would not have it so . . . ." (Luke 13:34)

25 de diciembre: El primer día de Navidad, mi amor me mandó *una perdiz picando peras del peral (Jesus Cristo - Lucas 13:34)

December 26: On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me *two turtle doves (the Old and New Testament, which together bear witness to God's self-revelation in history and the creation of a people to tell the Story of God to the world.) and a partridge in a pear tree.

26 de diciembre: El segundo día de Navidad, mi amor me mandó *dos tortolitas (el Viejo and el Nuevo Testamento, que juntos sirven como testigos a la autorevelacion de Dios en la historia y la creacion de una gente que contara su cuento verdadero al mundo.)

December 27: On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me *three French hens (Faith, Hope and Love-the Theological Virtues -1 Corinthians 13:13) ) two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.

27 de diciembre: El tercer día de Navidad, mi amor me mandó *tres gallinitas (Fe, Esperanza & Amor-las Virtudes Teologicas, 1 Corintios 13:13) dos tortolitas y una perdiz picando peras del peral.

Christmas Lights!

Sacramento Christmas Lights Tour, December 2008

In an hour or so, our family of 8, with Grandma & Papa and another family of 9 will all ride up together in our SUV and their 12-seater van to discover the BEST LIGHTS in Sacramento. Yes, we're off to famed Dovewood Court, Orangevale.

Four - Candles and Books

Faith. Love. Hope. Joy.

Fe. Amor. Esperanza. Gozo.

One Advent Candle Left/Solo Queda una Vela

JESUS

John 1:14, 12-13 - The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become Children of God
Juan 1:14, 12-13 - Y aquel Verbo fue hecho carne, y habito entre nosotros y vimos su gloria, gloria como del unigenito del Padre, lleno de gracia y de verdad.
Mas a todos los que le recibieron, a los que creen en su nombre, les dio postestad de ser hechos Hijos de Dios.
These are my favorite books each season. . .Algunas de mis libros preferidos de esta estacion se encuentran entre los juveniles que tengo guardados durante el ano. Los descubrimos cada diciembre cuando abrimos la caja grande de libros y revistas navidenos de otros anos, musica, y decoraciones. Me encanta El Abecedario de Navidad/The Christmas Alphabet por Robert Sabuda con su arte de papel "pop-up." An amazing book of Christmas "pop-up" art.

El tesoro de The Tale of Three Trees, a Traditional Folktale que empieza con lo que suenan tres arbolitos de cuando crezcan a ser grandes. Up on a mountaintop, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up and whose wishes come true in a surprising way.

y One Wintry Night escrito por Ruth Bell Graham, la esposa del evangelista Billy Graham. A young mountain boy is caught alone in a sudden snowstorm and takes refuge in a cabin built by his grandfather. The woman living there shelters the boy and while she attends to his badly swollen ankle she tells him the Christmas story.

Finalmente, A Cup of Christmas Tea por Tom Hegg de lo que le pasa a un hombre joven cuando por fin le hace una visita a una tia anciana antes de la Navidad (el foro no aparece aqui). Estos son de los mas especiales que hay. A touching story of what happens when a young man finally goes to visit his aged aunt at Christmas.

Ya Tiene Pinta de Navidad/It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

Casas de Genjibre de Sarita para La Taza de Te - Sara's Gingerbread Houses for A Cup of Tea

En la cocina, con delantales, mi madre, Wendy, a la izquierda preparando los tes y limpiando, y Sarita probando todo como inspectora oficial y dando lata - Claro!

In the kitchen with aprons on, my mother, Wendy, on the left making teas and cleaning up and Sarita, tasting everything like the inspector general and teasing everyone.- Of course!

el dia 17 *Yep, it's really cold here! This week we had two nights of freeze. I haven't surveyed all the plants yet, but I'm sure that many uncovered ones didn't make it. Hace muchisimo frio aqui! Esta semana tuvimos dos noches de helamiento. No he inspeccionado las plantas todavia, pero seguro que muchas de las desabrigadas se han muerto ya.Hi (durante el dia)
9°C
Lo (durante la noche)
-2°C Ay, chihauhau!

Aqui, Mrs. Santa calentandose las manos antes de ir a trabajar en La Casa de Te

Mrs. Santa warming her hands before going to work at the Tea Shop. We're burning a lot of wood these days. Fortunately, we took advantage of a couple of trees that fell in September's storms to have enough to last most of the winter. It was a lot of work, but now we're really grateful.

*Quemamos mucha lena en estos dias. Afortunadamente, aprovechamos en septiembre de varios arboles que cayeron en las ultimas tormentas para tener lo suficiente durante este invierno. Fue mucho trabajo pero ahora nos sentimos bien agradecidos.

A blessing - Risa recovered from Freemont's broomball on ice and resulting bad asthma attack last night to go to keep her role as Mrs. Santa with the children. It was adorable to watch!

**(Ve debajo-12-19). Una bendicion -Se sentia mejor Risa esta manana y pudo ir a cumplir con su papel de Mrs. Santa con los ninos. Que adorable fue!

En el Escaparate

el dia 18
Hi (durante el dia)
9°C
Lo (durnate la noche)
-2°C

a las 11 de la noche:

**19-12-08
Hoy ha tenido sus "ups and downs" como decimos. El "up" es que fue un dia bueno ya que fui de compras con los ninos, algo que no hacemos muy a menudo, y encontramos ropa y cosas que nos ilusionen para Navidad. Compramos casi todo de una buena tienda de segunda mano, porque prefiero donar dinero a las caridades que a las empresas grandes. Mucha de la ropa todavia mantiene sus etiquetas y no se la ha llevado nadie, pero por cualquier razon no se ha vendido en Gap o Old Navy, etc. . . Ryan se aprovecho mas que nadie con 4 jerseys, 6 camisetas, unos vaqueros, etc. . . Risa se compro una blusa bastante sexy para la celebracion del Fin de Ano. Yo lo pase bien con una puertariquena que nos atendia. Por la tarde salieron las ninas a jugar a "broom ball," un tipo de hockey sobre hielo, pero en lugar de unos palos los jugadores utilizan escobas.

El "down" fue que al regresar a casa estaba Risa muy mala con un ataque de asma. Le ayude todo lo posible para que se sentiera mejor, pero no se si manana va a poder ir a la Casa de Te/Cup of Tea. Esta ansiosa ir al trabajo manana porque va disfrazada de Mrs. Santa(mujer de Santa Claus, por supuesto) y pasara unas horas leyendo y jugando con los ninos que van a la Casa de Te. Ya veremos si se siente lo suficiente bien para cumplir con el plan.

Las Cartas de Papa Noel/Letters from Father Christmas

J.R.R. Tolkien was a literary master as we all know. He has entranced us with his Ring Trilogy, as well as a number of other writings like the Silmarillian. I 've known common information about Tolkien's personal life, such as the close friendship he and C.S.Lewis (author of the Narnia series and many other fabulous works of fantasy and apologetics) shared despite their theological (Catholic-Protestant) differences. Tolkien reveled in languages and created an altogether new one, Elvish, which one of my daughters mastered to some degree. And, Tolkien had four children, just like I do: John, Christopher, Michael, and Priscilla. What I didn't know. until this Christmas, was that Tolkien wrote letters to his children each December under the guise of Father Christmas for over 20 years! This book, Letters From Father Christmas , is such a joy! Tolkien's attention to any detail that might delight his children amazes me. There is wobbly handwriting from this very old Santa-archetype, envelopes dusted with snow, and even intricate, unique postage stamps, all from the North Pole, of course. Much, much magic here.

Adeste Fidelis/O Come, All Ye Faithful

Adeste fideles, lacti triumphantes
Venite, venite in Bethlehem
Natum videte, Regem angelorum:
Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus,
Dominum.