A Christmas gathering and our Christmas letter

A warm gathering of friends at our house for fellowship, Rosary, Christmas music and yummy dessert. 

Thank you to our friend Sara C. for her wonderful eye for photography.

Holy Christmas 2012

Dear friends and family,

Last week we started sending our Christmas letter.
Then, something tragic happened in Connecticut. We stopped. It is a time for prayer and reflection.

God knows suffering. He sent his son to die for us. He knows what it means to lose a son.
Jesus came to bring us hope.
We can help heal this wounded world, if we accept God's loving laws and if we are willing to start saying no to violence: in movies, in the media and in the womb.
This is our new Christmas reflection this week.

Merry Christmas

Enrico and Norine Contolini (and children)

##############################################

There is an unusual Christmas song that our children like called: “Leaving Heaven”, by Matthew West (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JIbAjyuwCU&).  It goes like this:

[…]

I’m gonna walk around that broken Earth

Trading in these streets of gold

So if you ever wonder how much you’re worth

You should know

That you’re the reason why I’m leaving Heaven

[…]

Just a little old manger, in a little old town

But it’ll do just fine for this humble King

I’m leaving Heaven let all the angels sing

I’m gonna walk around that broken Earth

Trading in these streets of gold

So if you ever wonder how much you’re worth

You should know

You’re the reason why I’m leaving Heaven

And when my time comes to an end

I’ll lay down my life like a truest friend

And when I get back home, I’m gonna make some room

So, don’t you worry, ‘cause I’m coming back for you

And you will say goodbye to that broken Earth

You’re gonna walk on streets of gold

And if you ever wonder what my love is worth

Well you should know

That I’m the reason you’ll be seeing Heaven

[…]

Indeed, Jesus left Heaven for us, taught us the “beauty” and value of poverty and of innocent children. He showed us what it means to serve and to love. 

He showed us the meaning of suffering, to not fear it and how to be thankful. In fact, Eucharist (from the Greek Eucharisteo) means Thanksgiving!

So, what have we learned from His example since last Christmas and what do we want to learn from Him this coming year?

As a family, we are trying to recognize our gifts, knowing that from thankfulness comes joy. 

As the book: One Thousand Gifts (http://onethousandgifts.com/) suggests, each member of our family is keeping a list of what we are thankful for. We are slowly working up to 1,000. 

Here are some of our favorites:

Paolo (7):

-          Going to Wal-Mart with mommy

-          The Most Wonderful Mrs. Morrell (my 2nd grade teacher)

-          My new friends Kuba and Brody

-          Tortellini and Subway sandwiches

-          Playing on the Tigers soccer team

Pietro (10):

-          Changing school to Hutchinson Elementary

-          My watch from Zio Franz in Italy

-          My special trip to Utah with daddy and meeting Gail Halvorsen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gail_Halvorsen)

-          Playing soccer at recess

-          Watching Shawn the Sheep on the computer

Emanuela (13):

-          Joining American Heritage Girls

-          Monday and Wednesday nights because they are Gymnastics nights

-          Newborn babies, and little children

-          Meeting and getting to know our distant cousin Gina in Oregon

-          Snuggling

Isabella (14):

-          Marching Band Season

-          New Friends in High School

-          Crater Lake and its amazing blue waters

-          Meeting and touching the Kiwi bird Manaia at the National Zoo in Washington D.C.

-          The feel and smell of the pages of new books

Norine:

-          Losing seven pounds

-          Health, health and health again

-          My $150 piano found at the parish rummage sale and listening to the girls play on it.

-          Kids humming when they are creating things

-          When Paolo wants to sit next to me and hold my hand during our Sunday rosary

Enrico:

-          Norine's pony tail

-          My four day work week

-          Empty beach by the ocean in Oregon and finding star fish in low tides

-          LED Christmas lights that do not need replacing

-          Our weekly Holy Hour and the peace it brings

What is your family thankful for this year?

Our best wishes for Christmas!  

Enrico, Norine, Isabella, Emanuela, Pietro and Paolo Contolini

Advent Prayer

I was going to post about St. Lucia at our house and the date with Norine, but then the sad events in Connecticut brought darkness to the weekend. While our prayers and tears are with the families affected, words cannot express what the hearts feel. So, instead of trying to reason about what happened, I am just going to share a very simple but powerful prayer by Max Lucado, which was posted yesterday here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-lucado/a-christmas-prayer_2_b_2302548.html

Dear Jesus,

It's a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.

These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated.

The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?

Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were nightshift workers. The Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod's jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty. Dark with violence.

Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.

Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won't you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.

This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.

Hopefully,
Your Children

Leonardo Da Vinci Exhibit

Did you know that Leonardo Da Vinci invented a "floodlight" using a candle to work at night? He also designed a bicycle, a system of ball bearings to reduce friction, he improved the Archimede's screw, he experimented with flying machines and perpetual motion, and much more...
Paolo was at a friend's house today, Norine and Emanuela went to a children chorale concert and so Pietro, Isabella and I, the engineering types, visited the Da Vinci Exhibit: http://www.davinciexhibitdenver.com/. Really impressive!

The Lord withholds no good thing

As we prepare for Christmas, in Psalm 84 we find: "The Lord withholds no good thing", because in the end "life's good things are usually not things".



I like when she sings: "Pain is no measure of His Faithfulness". Jesus came and suffered the ultimate pain for us. Enjoy the journey to Christmas.

Suffering and the Eucharist

A friend of mine runs a website called One Billion Stories where he collects testimonies of Catholic people along their journey of faith. This story struck me in a special way. The reason? The video is about suffering and the Eucharist. We all experience suffering in life, some of us more than others, but how we handle it determines our joy or sadness. I struggle with this. The secret, I am discovering, is "thanksgiving". Giving thanks for the small things and giving thanks even for the hard things. We are not entitled to anything. Everything is a gift from God. Every new day, every breath we take, every beat of our heart. So, give thanks...Eucharist comes from Greek and means "thanksgiving". So Eucharist is the secret.


Father John Nepil Experiences Suffering on his Path to Knowledge of God

The day Pietro met Gail

Back in 1948, the United States was involved in the Berlin Airlift, flying food, fuel and supplies to the starving population of that destroyed and divided city. One young pilot, named Gail Halvorsen, felt a call to do something special for the children of Berlin. On his way toward the short landing strip at Tempelhof airport, he started to drop candies with little parachutes for the children that gathered around the airport.  His simple act of kindness and generosity changed his life as well as that of many other people.
Colonel Gail still drops candies to children now around the world to deliver an important message. He tells them to be thankful for all that they have, to put others before self and to invites follow their dreams.
You can read Gail's story in several books:
Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot, The Berlin Candy Bomber, Candy Bomber. Pietro, our future pilot, and dad met Gail at a candy drop in in Kaysville, UT.
It was a touching, uplifting and emotional experience.
Read more about it: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/54826155-78/candy-halvorsen-berlin-bombs.html.csp

Thank you Gail for your kindness and for reminding us to always be generous and thankful. May God Bless you.

On our way to Utah

The Mormon Temple

Pietro meets Gail

The helicopter used for the candy drop

Pilots rule

One last picture together

The Great Salt Lake

Thankfulness for: Oregon and... so much more

My theme of this trip and of the time since we have been back in Colorado has been thankfulness. Norine and I are trying to read together a book titled: One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp. We hope to finish it by Christmas... Yes, reading time is very limited.... It is a wonderful, spiritual and inspiring read and a compelling invitation to be thankful to our creator for what we have and experience every single day, starting with the very small things.  Being thankful is helping to change my attitude and to enjoy each moment more. All that we are, we have received for free from God and does not come from our ingenuity, money or hard work. I am thankful for my children and their health and smiles and hugs even when Iam grumpy. I am thankful for the opportunity to visit wonderful places and experience life in other parts of the world. I am also thankful for the sun that shines and the cool air that is starting to bring touches of fall to Colorado. I am thankful for my wife and life companion, who accepts me for what I am and helps me to be better. And today, I am thankful for these pictures and the memories that they bring back. And for "Jonathan", the little Redwood tree that Pietro bought at the  rangers' station in Crescent City, CA. I hope it will survive here in Colorado.
If you  read my previous post, I promised to "disclose" the location of the pictures shown there. The waterfall is Multnomah Falls near the Columbia River. The pictures by the ocean were taken in Bandon and Tilamook (yes, that's where they make Tila-Mook cheese), Oregon.

I still want to post a video of the 19-legged star fish.  Just need some time to pull it off the video-camera. Sign off for automated email updates (up on the right side of this page), so you'll know when I do.

I also have a couple of more exciting things (at least, I think they are) to post really soon, so do come back to visit again...

Pietro, at the amazing 747-Evergreen water park in McMinnville, OR. 

Scooby doo on his shirt seems excited as well.

Erosion

starfish at a tide pool in Bandon, OR

Enjoying a cool beach and tide pools

I have always wondered why the Oregon license plate has a huge evergreen tree on it, and not the beach. After driving hundreds of miles through the state, I now know. Duh....

One of the most beautiful lakes we have ever seen: Crater Lake, OR

The sound of the Ocean

What do you think about when you hear the word "ocean"?
For our family it is not just hot sun, warm waters and  snorkeling, but rather quiet beaches, cool breeze and amazing tide-pool discoveries in early morning fog.  We spent ten days driving along the Oregon coast and experiencing sand dunes, cold ocean water, observing star fish and anemones, watching birds flying just above the crest of waves and then diving beak first to catch a fish. What kind of birds are those?
More than anything, Norine and I enjoyed sitting on a quiet cool beach and just listening to the sound of the waves. Have you ever listened to the waves? what do they tell you? They have a soothing effect and the ability to make me forget about my worries and list of things to do...

So where were the photos below taken?  Wait for the next post to find out.

Colorado History Bee

Here is a short exert from the Colorado History Bee held on March 10, 2012. Guess who won?

Antipode: "What is yours?"

Antipodal Point (antipode) refers to the point that is located "diametrically opposite" to a predefined location on a sphere. So where is the antipode of the place your town or of your house?

Find out using this cool graphical tool.

http://www.freemaptools.com/tunnel-to-other-side-of-the-earth.htm

I met Rick Santorum today

He was speaking here in Colorado, ahead of the Republican primary in the State next Tuesday.

I really admire his courage and agree with most of what he stands for. After all, we are both committed Catholic fathers. :)

While you may think that this has nothing to do with my geography blog, I still find it fitting. You see, one of the reasons I study and want to teach others about geography is to speak up about the value of every human life, no matter how poor, how small, or where he/she happens to live on this earth.

In this video, Rick Santorum shares this truth with a very personal example.

I hope you enjoy it.

The Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel is a building within Vatican city (in Rome, Italy), which is famous for the incredible paintings and frescos by many Renaissance artists, including Michelangelo, Botticelli and Raphael.

The Vatican has now a webpage on which you can move around and get a close up look at all the paintings.

Click on the picture below to view this beautiful masterpiece. Use your mouse to move around and get closer to the paintings. Don't forget to look at the ceiling. Enjoy.

Geography nuggets - Basics of GPS

Here is a video explaining the basics of how GPS systems work.

While a GPS is a useful tool in many situations and jobs, they are often overused preventing people from interacting, analyzing and enjoying the environment around them, understanding where they are, etc...

Are your school, church and grocery store located north, east, south or west of your house?

Which highway takes you to your neighboring state (or country) to the north?

Have fun with the GLP, if you own one, but don't forget to explore the world around you with your senses and using your mind. It is a wonderful tool that God has given us.