Winter Solstic, Reflection, Christmas, and a New Year

Happy Yule Celebration!
Tomorrow is Winter Solstice when it's the shortest day and nighttime is at its longest, it also marks the Yule Celebration when there springs a new spark of hope. It is the celebration of a new solar year and beginning of winter.
The word Yule comes from the Germanic "yula" meaning "wheel," such as the wheel of life, represented by the changing seasons and the cycle of light and darkness. To celebrate, we will be making a popcorn garland to place outside for the birds and squirrels, celebrate new beginnings, and strengthening our family bond and in speaking of celebrations....
Christmas is fast approaching and before we know it, it will pass in a blink of an eye and it will be on to the next holiday before we can catch our breathe. I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the year - ups and downs and all that goes into making us stronger, testing our will, and giving us a pause to be thankful to those who surround us, so I want to pause and just say thank you. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in all the things we don't have that we fail to realize what is beneath our nose. We take for granted those relationships that we have past and present and typically with Christmas and the verge of a new year, we can reflect and realize how blessed we are.
It amazes me that a new year will soon be approaching, it seems like the first six months of 2009 were a blur. In February, Porshia and Paul celebrated the birth of Noam. Jami and Jim flew to the Cayman Islands in April and were married. Kim and Matt were married in July and continue to fight on Garret's behalf, they have him full-time and hopefully it will stay that way. I was wrapped up in finishing my MA that those months just blew right by, like most of you know I finished in August, which was a busy month. My sweet pea started PreK at one of the Montessori schools and is loving it, she is also taking violin lessons and amazes me how quickly she picked it up. She has an outstanding memory.
I donated my kidney to my mom in August, who initially had complications and with the help of small miracles, it turned around.Thank you to everyone who came over to help, to bring dinner, to offer support, and to just be there while I recovered, it meant a lot to me.
In regards to my mother, these last several months have definitely pushed her strength and will - in October she got sick with an inflection, that turned out to be norcardia infection, very dangerous and deadly infection. My mom is a fighter and she finishes her last antibiotic treatment at the end of the year. My little man had inguinal hernia repair surgery in November, which he took like a champ, I was amazed at how quickly he recovered, he is indeed my little superhero. Jami's sister, Brenda, also received a liver transplant in November. Organ donation is the greatest gift you can bestow on someone.
We have forged new friendships this year, thank you Melinda and Andrew for all you have done. Renewed old friendships (thanks facebook)and found whanau members in New Zealand that I knew existed, but never had connections to (thanks again facebook). Darren and I may have ended the year on a somewhat downward end, but it all depends on how you look at it. I could make a post of all that is missing from my life, but it would leave me feeling empty and shallow and so instead I want to celebrate all that I have and that is the people who surround me or just listening to my little sweet pea who said, "it's all about family and love," she is an old soul that one.
So tomorrow take a moment to pause and reflect....

"What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." - TS Eliot