Satvinder told her Papa today...

"When I was at God and you were a little boy, I used to say 'I love you, Little Papa' because I knew that you were going to be my Pitaji and I sayed that until you were."

Merry Christmas

May you feel and celebrate the bountiful blessings - both seen and unseen. Love to all.
Satvinder with her ridiculous pile of "seen" gifts.

Christmas Eve - the night

Two pups in the snow

Satvinder danced and sang while Dadaji and Pitaji played tablas.

In the magic

Happy Eve - the day

We visited the Riordan Mansion built in 1904 and saw some bits from Flagstaff history. Here we are in the front entrance.

The icicles were big, as was the house. I liked that the style focused on using local materials that blend with the environment. It makes sense for those days when buying local was a practical consideration...but I also like it for today when we need that kind of common sense.

Full Moon Last Night

Playing in the Snow

In Flagstaff for the holidays, we get to play in the snow.
Satvinder and Fynn



Pitaji got out the snowboard and the sled.

Pinky and Pitaji taking a ride down sled hill - with Dadaji, Nonni, and Fynn

On Stage

Last night Satvinder's school had a holiday performance where a bunch of wiggly kids sang songs. Here's a picture of Satvinder's class:
Satvinder is the second girl in from the right, in case you are having trouble locating her.

With us was Maria, who also had a class performance. Just the night before, I had the blessing of being with Maria and her parents as they welcomed a new baby into their family: sweet little Greta. Their birth imprinted some truly beautiful images/memories into my mind that I have been replaying a lot since then. It was a wonderful experience that continues to bring a smile to my heart.

Sometimes the only way I can negotiate for a picture is if I promise we'll do silly ones too.

Awareness Inspires Change

I recently found a website that provides information on the ingredients used in body care products and I could not believe my eyes as I found what disturbing things are commonly smeared on our bodies (and on the bodies of our babies!)

Think about how much we absorb through our skin. It really is true that we wouldn't want to put something on our body that we wouldn't put in our body. And yet, most products are full of ingredients that encourage cancer cell growth, hormone disruption, neurotoxins, reproductive issues, and on and on. Even products you would assume safe because they are sold in natural food stores or are called "natural" or "organic".

Go to this website: Skin Deep Cosmetics Database and you can search by product name or ingredient name to see the level of harm. Some products will be fine. But as I found, many are very much not okay.

I am not sharing this information to freak you out. I am sharing it because with awareness, we can make choices that are better for our bodies and better for sending a message to the industry that makes so many products full of harmful chemicals.

Can we avoid all the chemicals in the world around us? No. Can we avoid rubbing chemicals into our skin? Yes. (The above listed website is making that a lot more possible for me so I had to share.)

Generations

We had grandparents and great-grandparents in town for a bit this week. It was a very sweet visit with very sweet people.

This is Satvinder with her Great Grandma Hart and Great Grandpa Hart. Satvinder insisted on wearing her coat backwards - she found it quite hilarious of herself.

Several generations in this picture. And still with the coat face.

The Story of Stuff

Find 20 minutes to watch this video:
The Story of Stuff

Seriously. You need to know.

Christmas Traditions

Satvinder and Logan in line to see Santa. There was lots of hugging.

I love sleeping children

Oh, the Cuteness!

Satvinder went with me to visit our friend, Siri Narayan, and her sweet new baby. One of my early blog entries showed the 120 day celebration our community had for them (in pregnancy) - and I also was blessed to be at their birth.

This is a picture of Satvinder trying to measure how big? that little foot is.

Puppet Show

Satvinder and her friend, Elia, put on a puppet show for me. It was mostly a stall to avoid bedtime (which worked for a while) but it was quite entertaining.
It was a story about two characters: one named "Sprinkles" and one named "Joni Mitchell". Sprinkles and Joni Mitchell like to do ballet and eat candy.

At the end, I invited them to take a bow. Satvinder was annoyed by this request.

Austin - a quick trip

I spent the last few days in Austin, to be with my mom while she was in the hospital, recovering from surgery. It was good to be there with her and see family and, thankfully, all seems to be progressing well for her.

There were certainly images being in the surreal hospital environment that my photographic mind wanted to capture. However, that was not my mission...and here are the few pics I've got:
Satvinder stayed in Phoenix with her Pitaji while I was away. I took this on the way to airport so I'd have a picture of Satvinder to carry with me to Austin. It wasn't really what I had in mind...but Satvinder had other ideas for the departing picture.

Two cuties in Austin: Jayden and Rascal

As I was leaving the hospital one day, I heard a strange voice singing Christmas carols. Peeking into the cafeteria, I found this guy - a singing and dancing (almost life-size) Santa. He kind of freaked me out.

Please send my mom prayers as she continues her healing. Thanks to all who have given their love and support in this process.