In a slightly past-its-prime mall called Whittwood, we met the REAL SANTA. When Henry said he didn't know what he wanted, Santa said "Why don't we make it a surprise, then." When Clara said she wanted the two Bitty Baby dolls, Santa said, "You mean the twins?" I said, "You've heard of them?" Santa replied, "Of course. I made them." Clara said she wanted the stroller but thought it wouldn't fit down the chimney and might scratch Grandma's roof. Santa said, "Don't worry. I'll just sprinkle it with some magic dust." Clara gave him a big hug and said, "I love you Santa. Merry Christmas." Christmas Eve, 2002
Flash forward to this weekend. We had a quiet Thanksgiving with just the four of us. Clara was a big help. She made two desserts: a chocolate pudding pie and apple pie pockets.
We had a wonderful dinner: turkey; three vegetable casseroles (which we ate for lunch - will definitely continue that tradition); mashed potatos; and stuffing. Clara and I set the table with my Aunt Vera's china and my Grandmother Ontiveros' silver. I explained to Clara as we worked why these were important to me. Henry was in charge of peeling the potatoes.
On Saturday, I had the good fortune of having brunch with Karen of Random Reflections. She is just as lovely in person as you would expect from having visited her blog. We could have talked for hours, but she was off to get a Christmas tree, and I was off to watch Henry play in the Alumni Soccer game:
That's a picture of Henry running alongside an alum named Fausto Villegas. He's the only soccer All-American to come out of our small high school. He also played for the U.S. National U17 World Cup team! Henry did okay keeping up with him, as well as another alumni who played semi-pro soccer in Mexico. It was such fun to see him back out on the pitch.
Finally, in my very small Christmas miracle for this year, I found my iphone. It had been missing for several days when the finders returned a call my friend Sherri made to the cell phone number. They told her they had found it, and this morning Paul and I went to retrieve it. We had to drive an hour each way to get it, but we found a totally delightful mom who wanted to set an example to her children (one of whom I think "found" the phone) that they are an honest family who returns things. The experience was a wonderful ending to a wonderful weekend!
This is a post entirely filled with joy I would say :-) I love the Christmas story and I am so pleased to hear that Clara was mindful of Grandma's chimney!
ReplyDeleteWe had a recent conversation about precious items within our home and the story they tell - it was good for mine to hear those stories too.
And, to finish off with a great visit with Karen and Henry's fantastic soccer match - well, you have had a GREAT weekend Rinda - not to mention the reunion with the iphone! :-)
Such a happy joyful post Rinda - you just have to link it up, it's so full of good things!
ReplyDeleteI loved hearing about your meeting with Karen. How cool is that? And about the decent family who found your phone. And, of course, your wonderful Santa story. A bit of magic in that slightly scruffy mall: that's what Christmas is all about I think.
I love this post, Rinda. What a cute story about the real Santa - that was a man on his toes, eh?
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm so glad you got to meet Karen! How fun to meet a blog friend face to face. :o)
What a fabulous weekend, and I was so glad to be a part of it! I'm so relieved you found your iPhone. Now that I have one, I realize how much is lost! Great photo of Henry, and tell Clara those apple pockets look delicious!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful Christmas story - a very special Santa indeed. So glad you had a lovely time with Karen and that you found your iPhone. I've only had mine for a couple of weeks but would hate to lose it now!
ReplyDeleteOh Rinda what a gorgeous Christmas story & Santa didnt let anyone down that day!! You have really cheered me up :)) xx
ReplyDeleteA lovely xmas story,Rinda....some real xmas magic.
ReplyDeleteSo glad about your phone....nice to hear there's still honest people around.
Congrats on getting your phone back!
ReplyDeletethose pies look yummy! cute page too rinda! :)
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm "catching up" again!
ReplyDeleteLove the story about the Real Santa! I remember visits to Santa when I was little, then taking my nieces & nephew to see him (niece no.1 would send Grandma in to see him on her behalf, as she is frightened of people in costumes/masks!). But your story is so lovely. God Bless Santa, I say!
Henry and football - I so like following your stories about Henry and Clara's sports. It's very interesting - especially as "football" in UK is something so different and we don't have baseball either.
And yummy food too... tell Clara those apple turnovers looked lovely!
The i-phone story is great. In UK, you can find the phone's own number in the settings somewhere - don't US phones have this feature? (or maybe you had a pin on your phone to prevent access to settings?). Anyway, it was great that the family called your friends back and told them they'd found the phone. A good ending to a good set of stories.