The North Pole Limited Express

Have you ever been to the North Pole? I have. 3 times, in fact. Each year Nathan, Noah and I drive to Chatanooga and catch a train to the North Pole. This year may have been the most fun year of all. Noah is truly caught up in the magic of Santa and it is so infectious. How could anyone not believe? Our photos captured some wonderful moments, such as my two guys shaking the bells given us by Santa from his sleigh and Noah's request to Santa to view his Playmobil catalog so that he knew exactly what to deliver on Christmas Eve. What a special night that is. I will leave you with the photos of our trip to the North Pole and a little something extra under it. The something extra is a letter written in 1987 by a little girl named Virginia to The New York Sun. Read it and believe.

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Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Halloween

Well, I'm just now getting around to the Halloween photos. As usual, we had a fantastic night. Nathan's parents joined us for a night of warm fall soup prior to the rounds of Trick-Or-Treating. Also, as usual, we went with the entire street. Our dear neighbors of the last 7 years moved the day before but came back to the court for the festivities. Along with the Brahnams was the family next door. We visited our other neighbors along the way and of course, two of the neighbors had treat bags ready for our little gang. Noah was in his Harry Potter best, Nathan was Gandalf (as usual), and I was a witch (nothing new there!) A good time was had by all.

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Disney Slide Show

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Thanks + Adoption Petition

Thanks to each of you who signed our petition to the USCIS and Congress to ensure that those of us who began our adoption journey prior to the implementation of the Hague Treaty on International Adoption can be grandfathered in to the old system of USCIS approval.

The petition worked and we have now been grandfathered in.

Thank you again. I know many of you - my friends and families - put your electronic John Hancock participated.

We Give Thanks

Today as Noah's class was busy working on their turkey drawings, Noah shared the verse that we say each week in our church class. If you are looking for a simple blessing and way to say thanks...here it is:

We give thanks.
We give thanks for being.
We give thanks for being here.
We give thanks for being here together.

Simple and to the point.

This is why he is the Sun.

I am thankful for all I have and all that I AM. May your day be filled with the gifts of Spirit so that you may find thanks too.

Dana

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi Folks,

I have been a little too eager to get to the Christmas music and totally forgot about my all time favorite Thanksgiving ballad - story - Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie. So, scroll down and turn it up as you stuff your turkey's and bake your pies. Happy Thanksgiving. May you find much to be thankful for. I know I have.

There Is No Me Without You

After a conversation about adoption with fellow parents from Noah's class, I sent an email to one of the parents recommending Melissa Fay Greene's book There Is No Me Without You. I also visited Greene's website this morning and read through some of the pages that I may have missed before or simply may not have been up before.

If you are an adoptive parent - regardless of what type of adoption you are doing (International or Domestic), please read through her site carefully. Read especially this page: Though this page is Ethiopian focused, it is such great practical information for ALL adoptive families.

Greene states that many adoption professionals lament the fact that many adoptive families are not educated in regards to adoption and the possibilities. For me, that is simply irresponsible. Adoption, though beautiful, is often not pretty in the beginning and it is a serious act of ignorance to not be prepared for all of the possibilities.

So, families, please educate yourselves on adoption. Also, educate yourselves on the culture and race of your child.

Peace Out.

Dana

Does Pro Life = Pro Adoption?

I have recently began following the blog of an adoptive family (China). Not too unusual. However, this particular family is VERY Christian. Generally, I do not follow those blogs. Okay, a little explanation here. Do I feel I have a calling to adopt? A mandate perhaps? Maybe...okay, yes. But, there are some blogs out there that are so over the top and make such a HUGE distinction between Christians adopting and everyone else that I can rarely stomach it.

However, this particular family had such trauma during travel and almost lost their daughter (to death) that I was compelled to follow their journey and pray alongside other adoptive families that this little girl survive and be released to her new family so that she could come to the states to receive treatment. So...on with the story.

I visited this family blog tonight and found a very good posting where the mom called out Christians who cry "pro-life" but who do not support orphans. A few years ago I was told story about a friend of a friend who was chastised in Kroger parking lot because she had a "pro-choice" sticker on her car. Her response to the man? "How many children have you adopted?" "What?"

So, what's the point? The point is, give a home to a child in need. Give it food, clothing, shelter and most of all, give it love. Pro-Choice or Pro-Life, it does not matter.

A final thought, war is not pro-life. Adoption...now that's pro-life. Hmmm...I guess I'm pro-life after all.