Christmas Spirit

Beautiful creations from my dear friend Dani

who always puts the sparkle and joy into the season

My sweet friend Karen who is like Magic every day of the year

with her happiness and zest for life.

“It is a miracle if you can find true friends, and it is a miracle if you have enough food to eat, and it is a miracle if you get to spend your days and evenings doing whatever it is you like to do, and the holiday season - like all the other seasons - is a good time not only to tell stories of miracles, but to think about the miracles in your own life, and to be grateful for them...”
― Lemony Snicket

My Grown Up Christmas. No more lives torn apart. That wars would never start. And time would heal all hearts. And everyone would have a friend. And right would always win. And love would never end. This is my grown up Christmas list.  From the Song My Grown Up Christmas List

http://fromthehouseofedward.blogspot.ca/

Her words are always so enriched and enchanting


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPGTAR3ODSE


The Oh of Pleasure by Ray Lynch


Too often we make the mistake of remembering what we should 
forget—our hurts, failures and disappointments—and we forget what we should remember—our victories, accomplishments and the times we have made it through.

…… (♥….…♥
….…)… …((* ✿ 
……((….…♥)
_ر██ __ ██Ɔ_
✿✿*كك✿✿*كك¥✿.، ✿

As I stumble through this life,
help me to create more laughter than tears.
ღϠ₡ღ
Never let me become so indifferent,
that I will fail to see the wonder in the eyes of a
child.
ღϠ₡ღ
Never let me forget that my total effort is to cheer
people,
make them forget, at least momentarily,
the unpleasantness in their lives.
ღϠ₡ღ
and in my final moment, may I hear You whisper:
"When you made My people smile, you made Me
smile."


and with tears in my eyes I read the update on Annie the sweet lady we have all come to love
from our precious Corey in France.

http://willows95988.typepad.com/tongue_cheek/

Remember darlings perhaps Christmas does not come from a store
Perhaps Christmas means a whole lot more................

Keep the CHRIST in Christmas

Happy Happy Joy Joy The best is yet to come!

News from my Son

IT'S OFFICIAL! My son and his family will be in Canada for next spring and early summer, Words from my Son:
  then off to our new home and journey in ... SHANGHAI!!! What a roller-coaster this fall has been with trying to juggle grad school, job search, leading my awesome grade 3 team, teaching my wonderful students, tutoring after hours, and still trying to be there for life's moments with my loving wife and beautiful baby boy. I'm so thankful to the special people who have been there for me and help me get here; mad love, you know who you are ;D !!!

This is the message I received this morning when I woke up.

2014 will be a very very very good year indeed.

To say I am thrilled and excited is an understatement

I am so happy for my son and his family

and I will get to meet Logan my little MAGIC miracle and eternal springtime and joy
and get to spend time with my Son and his wife.................I have always told people get out the shovel and fill up the holes (hole in my Soul) with him and his family so far away it is a challenge I must say.

The next City my son and his family will call home

next year

Shanghai China

these were a few pictures from their trip there this spring

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_8IXx4tsus

China Girl by David Bowie

"Awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence. ✫´Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses. ✫´Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon. ✫´Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path. ✫´Let the flame of anger free you of all falsity. ✫´May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame. ✫´May anxiety never linger about you. ✫´May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul. ✫´Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention. ✫´Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul. ✫´May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder."~John O'Donohue

ღϠ₡ღ¸.✻´´¯`✻.¸¸.

The world is full of vibrant color. 

Don’t let it lose an ounce of its luster.

Assume this day is going to be good, and it will.

God made it so. ღϠ₡ღ¸.✻´´¯`✻.¸¸.

~Max Lucado~

Live for the moments you cannot put into words

"Life is available only in the present moment." 

~Thích Nhất Hạnh

Shanghai dreams.........

sail away with me honey

what will be will be

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/03/world/asia/pisa-education-study/index.html?sr=sharebar_facebook

His new school will be http://www.ssis-suzhou.net/explore/index.aspx

I truly think the secret is to be patient ! 

2014 will be a very very good year.

Thank you God

It is a miracle if you can find true friends, and it is a miracle if you have enough food to eat, and it is a miracle if you get to spend your days and evenings doing whatever it is you like to do, and the holiday season - like all the other seasons - is a good time not only to tell stories of miracles, but to think about the miracles in your own life, and to be grateful for them...” 

― Lemony Snicket

I love Seoul and all of its people

Sweet and sensitive souls

This is one interesting fact I learned today about prices

This fruit basket in Seoul is $190.00 Yes that is correct........

Thanks Chris Holland for this information

and a special thank you to my sweet friend

Mi Young Yoo in Seoul

you and I always share special moments me early in the morning and you 

later in Seoul.

Thanks for always sharing your sweet friendship 

and for starting my day out with love and hugs and smiles

from across the miles.

Here's to bright beautiful beginnings in 2014

Cheers to you my sweet friend

Here's to you my sweet friend.

Much love and many blessings

and may all your life be blessed with the very best indeed.

It is a pleasure to call you my friend

⋱ ⋮ ⋰
.. ◯ ⋯ The little things in life are the big things after all
✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿
thank you !
for your sweet smiles and hugs and notes in the morning
and for photographs and sweet words and kindness and love
they make my day in every way♥

╔══ღ═════╗
• ✿ღℓ σ √ ε ღ✿ܓ
• ╚═════ღ══╝smilesssss:))))))Hugs
Life is a gift,and it offers us the privilege,
opportunity,and responsibility
to give something back by helping others
ourselves by becoming something more.  *”˜˜”*°•.


“Always show kindness and love to others. Your words might be filling the empty places in someone's heart.” 
― Mandy Hale

The Work of Christmas

When the song of the angels is stilled,

when the star in the sky is gone,

when the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are with their flocks,

then the work of Christmas begins:

to find the lost,

to heal those broken in spirit,

to feed the hungry,

to release the oppressed,

to rebuild the nations,

to bring peace among all peoples,

to make a little music with the heart…

And to radiate the Light of Christ,

every day, in every way,

in all that we do and in all that we say.

Then the work of Christmas begins.

It looks like Trisha Romance has a new work of art

called JUST BELIEVE

I love her Art   

When the seemingly impossible is near at hand,

there is only one thing left to do .... Believe!


Yes, believe in miracles no matter how great or how small.


When it comes to the annual Christmas tree


they always seem so small when viewed under


a vast winter sky.


But when it's time to bring your perfect


tree through the front door, 


suddenly all must take a deep breath, squeeze ...


and "Just Believe".

http://www.trisharomance.com/home.html

Verse as seen on her webpage....................

I love the painting called The Golden Gown on the fabulous website

http://zsazsabellagio.blogspot.ca/

*(¯`v´¯)•* Christmas, is love, in action." (¯`:✿:´¯)•* ~ Dale Evans *(_.∧._)* ✿

I've Always Loved this One

Always believe in the magic of life............

Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their sufferings. Some suffer too much.. Others too little.
- Buddha


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgZsPepO9Z0


Link from my dear friend Ilona
Thank you so very much indeed.

Love you

(¯`•♥•´¯)♥•✿ " Good morning, let your heart reach out to others
`•.¸(¯`•♥•´¯)¸.•♥ in loving and generous warmth today."
•✿` `•.¸.•´ ` •✿. •✿

I've always loved Trust Me on the Sunscreen Thanks Havi for sending this to me...........I liked reading it once again.

Blessings

A MountainWings Moment
Issue Number 4005

Trust Me On The Sunscreen
=======================

by Mary Schmich - 1997 Graduation speech

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen

would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been

proven by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis

more reliable than my own meandering experience.

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth.

Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of

your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years,

you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you

can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how

fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying

is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by

chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to

be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that

blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts.

Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy.

Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind.

The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults.

If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with

your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22

what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most

interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees.

You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't.

Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't.

Maybe you'll divorce at 40,

maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding

anniversary.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much

or berate yourself either.

Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can.

Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it.

It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents.

You never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past

and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you

should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and

lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the

people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths:

Prices will rise.

Politicians will philander.

You, too, will get old.

And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young,

prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children

respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you.

Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse.

But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it

will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy,

but be patient with those who supply it.

Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing

the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly

parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

(¯`O´¯) 
*./ | \ .*
.*♥.♥*..Even amongst darkness, 
a light will always be provided for you." .*.☆*. . ¸.˚¯`☆

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3WNU9PZKl8

I love this song  ATC  All Around the World


http://livethecharmedlife.com/2009/09/a-love-letter-to-my-girlfriends/

I love this love letter to her girlfriends and her blog

Adorable Twins in this video

http://www.957theparty.com/pages/deuce.html?article=11832295

So precious


Rabbit Rabbit

I open the door. The gorgeous guest from afar sweeps in. In her hands are her gifts~the gifts of hours and far seeing moments, the gift of morning and evenings, the gift of spring and summer, the gift of autumn and winter. She must have searched the heavens for boons so rare.
~Anne Graham

December's gifts, custom, ceremony, celebration, consecration~come to us wrapped up, not in tissue and ribbons, but in cherished memories. This is the month of miracles.
The oil that burns for eight days, the royal son born in the stable, the inexplicable return of Light of the longest, darkest night of the year. Where there is Love, there is always miracles. And where there are miracles, there is great joy. Gratefully we weave the golden thread of Joy into our tapestry of contentment. At last we embrace the miracle of aunthenticity, changing forever how we view ourselves. Our daily round. Our dreams and our destinies. Days we once called common now are holy.

From the book
Simple Abundance
A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
by Sarah Ban Breathnach


Happy Birthday to my fabulous cousin Darlene

Family faces are magic mirrors

and the moments we shared cherished forever

♥

And the very best of luck to Wendy and her family

as they embark on a new threshold in their lives

May no gift be too small to give, nor too simple to receive, which is wrapped in thoughtfulness and tied with love.
~L. O. Baird

¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨. *

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¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨*o*
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨*♥*o*
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨***o***
¨¨¨¨¨¨**o**♥*o*
¨¨¨¨¨**♥**o**o**
¨¨¨¨**o**♥***♥*o*
¨¨¨*****♥*o**o****
¨¨**♥**o*****o**♥**
¨******o*****♥**o***
****o***♥**o***o***♥ *
¨¨¨¨¨____!_!____
¨¨¨¨¨\_________/¨
❥Wishing you a soul inspiring day,
dear friends .¸¸.•´¯`»✿