¿Quieres una naranja, mamá?

This past Christmas, Cassidy asked Santa for an American Girl doll. Santa decided to get one for Rebecca too. Becca picked the Josefina doll - it was always her favorite one in the catalog.

We have recently noticed that Becca kind of had an affinity with hispanic culture. She loved to watch Dora the Explorer (her favorite show), learn spanish ("¿Quieres una naranja, mamá?" - literally "Mom, do you want an orange?", but what she meant was "Mom, can I have an orange?"), eat "real" mexican foods (recipes that I brought home - sopa, tinga, and calabazas were among her favorites), and she picked the hispanic American Girl doll.

I have no doubt that she is interacting people of hispanic descent right now in the next life. I can just imagine her listening with great interest to her Great-Grandpa Sharp recount the stories of his missions to Mexico and South America.

I am also really glad that Santa brought her the doll. It wasn't his original plan - and Mrs. Santa wasn't too terribly happy about it at first...it took quite a bit of convincing. However, seeing her face on Christmas morning, and watching her play with the doll for the short month afterward, before her death, I am VERY glad that she was able to have happy memories, and that I could see the magic of Christmas through a child's eyes.

I love her so much! I can't wait to hear about all her stories, and what she is doing while we are separated!