Santa Claus is coming to town!
I am working on this in between the baking I've been doing all morning:
Batch #1: gooey butter cookies
Batch #2: toffee bits cookies using my chocolate chip recipe...I wasn't happy with the consistency of the dough--it was a little dry--but the final product tastes fine, although they would be better with a combo of toffee bits and chocolate chips
Batch #3: cinnamon struesel muffins
Batch #4?: more cinnamon struesel muffins, from scratch since we're out of muffin mix
Last week we got a phone call from a lady at Ascension Lutheran Church who was looking for families that her office could sponsor for Christmas. She asked if we knew of any...BOY do we know of some! We gave her 3 names to start with, although she wound up calling back for 2 more over the next couple of days for a total of 5. For each, I got the job of calling them with the good news, and also getting their wish lists, ages, and clothing sizes so the gifts could be as personalized as possible. Last Wednesday, it seemed like the entire office came to drop off the goods. I was amazed at their generosity...there was WAY more than I ever would have imagined. Chris and I then delivered it all (plus some of the winter coats that YLM distributes every year in partnership with Project NOEL) over the next 2 days; as promised in my last newsletter, I did indeed wear a Santa hat! "Playing Santa" was tons of fun! All but one of the families was home; at each stop we let each member of the family open one gift--they had to save the rest for Christmas morning. Here are some photos:
The Garcia girls with their winter coats.
Heaters were the #1 request! Only 1 of the 5 families had heat, so the other 4 each received 2 space heaters.
Dora, me Nadia, Elizabeth, and Luz.
I thought this was too precious--earlier that day the girls had been working on letters to Santa, asking for some of the very things we brought!
Luz helping Nadia put on her roller skates. I felt bad because, of their 3 gifts, Nadia was the only one who chose to open the roller skates. The rest are getting them too, they just have to wait a little longer!
Digging into their massive box of food: without us even mentioning groceries as a need, the lady and her colleagues gathered a desktop computer sized box of food for each family--50lb bag of beans, #10 sized can of chocolate pudding, hot chocolate mix, oatmeal, fruit snacks, Bisquick, tangerines, Ramen noodles, spaghetti sauce, macaroni and cheese, and more.
Alejandra wanted anything "princess."
Maria and Homero Morales with one of their yet unopened space heaters.
All of Homero's gifts were in one large box that was almost as big as him!
14-yr. old Joana and her box of clothes.
A rarity--the whole family (minus 17 yr. old Jesus, who lives with relatives in Juarez) was home!
Diego Sr., Diego Jr., and Vanesa Terrazas, pictured with a family friend.
Me with Norma, Obed, and Keila Saucedo. Norma was ready with Christmas cards for Chris & I, "Nuestra Santa"--the people who donated the gifts--and a girl from the servant event who built their over-roof in August!
Keila wanted to open both of hers the day we were there, whereas her brother Obed clearly has more patience--he's saving both of his for Christmas!
Batch #1: gooey butter cookies
Batch #2: toffee bits cookies using my chocolate chip recipe...I wasn't happy with the consistency of the dough--it was a little dry--but the final product tastes fine, although they would be better with a combo of toffee bits and chocolate chips
Batch #3: cinnamon struesel muffins
Batch #4?: more cinnamon struesel muffins, from scratch since we're out of muffin mix
Last week we got a phone call from a lady at Ascension Lutheran Church who was looking for families that her office could sponsor for Christmas. She asked if we knew of any...BOY do we know of some! We gave her 3 names to start with, although she wound up calling back for 2 more over the next couple of days for a total of 5. For each, I got the job of calling them with the good news, and also getting their wish lists, ages, and clothing sizes so the gifts could be as personalized as possible. Last Wednesday, it seemed like the entire office came to drop off the goods. I was amazed at their generosity...there was WAY more than I ever would have imagined. Chris and I then delivered it all (plus some of the winter coats that YLM distributes every year in partnership with Project NOEL) over the next 2 days; as promised in my last newsletter, I did indeed wear a Santa hat! "Playing Santa" was tons of fun! All but one of the families was home; at each stop we let each member of the family open one gift--they had to save the rest for Christmas morning. Here are some photos:
The Garcia girls with their winter coats.
Heaters were the #1 request! Only 1 of the 5 families had heat, so the other 4 each received 2 space heaters.
Dora, me Nadia, Elizabeth, and Luz.
I thought this was too precious--earlier that day the girls had been working on letters to Santa, asking for some of the very things we brought!
Luz helping Nadia put on her roller skates. I felt bad because, of their 3 gifts, Nadia was the only one who chose to open the roller skates. The rest are getting them too, they just have to wait a little longer!
Digging into their massive box of food: without us even mentioning groceries as a need, the lady and her colleagues gathered a desktop computer sized box of food for each family--50lb bag of beans, #10 sized can of chocolate pudding, hot chocolate mix, oatmeal, fruit snacks, Bisquick, tangerines, Ramen noodles, spaghetti sauce, macaroni and cheese, and more.
Alejandra wanted anything "princess."
Maria and Homero Morales with one of their yet unopened space heaters.
All of Homero's gifts were in one large box that was almost as big as him!
14-yr. old Joana and her box of clothes.
A rarity--the whole family (minus 17 yr. old Jesus, who lives with relatives in Juarez) was home!
Diego Sr., Diego Jr., and Vanesa Terrazas, pictured with a family friend.
Me with Norma, Obed, and Keila Saucedo. Norma was ready with Christmas cards for Chris & I, "Nuestra Santa"--the people who donated the gifts--and a girl from the servant event who built their over-roof in August!
Keila wanted to open both of hers the day we were there, whereas her brother Obed clearly has more patience--he's saving both of his for Christmas!Until next time, blessings!
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Blessings!!