Mauie Flores

This year, we were more fortunate in terms of financial blessings that we were able to treat everyone in the family with special (and more expensive) gifts. It's really our dream to do that eversince. Syempre pag pasko, basta may nakabalot ok na. lalo sa mga bata.

But don't get us wrong. We did not, and would never, forget the true meaning of Christmas. Personally, I thanked Jesus for giving us blessings every single day of the year. I count my misfortunes as blessings, too. They are, in fact, learning experiences that make me stronger and wiser every step of the way.

We attended the midnight mass at our parish church before having the traditional Noche Buena with the family. Sobrang dami nga ng tao, naawa ako sa kids kasi they had to sit on the church's floor. I wasn't able to fully absorb the priest's homily nga e. I got distracted with everything. Kaya I just made my personal and quiet meditation afterwards.

On to the Noche Buena....

This festive table is what we had for our salo-salo. We had our traditional arroz valenciana, hotdogs on stick, Christmas ham, grilled squid, chicken barbecue, steamed crabs, honey garlic prawns, garden salad and (ang matagal nang pangarap ni Daddy Jun... hehehe) curried lobsters!

Seryoso! Talagang matagal nang pangarap yan ni Daddy Jun! Sobrang mahal kaya! We went to Dampa in Paranaque just to buy this jumbo lobster. Mahal pa rin naman pero... who cares? Minsan lang naman 'to. Solved na solved ang mama sa picture ano?

Kain kung kain! We set our dining table outside the house. As in... on the street... in front of our house. Our street's not a busy one, anyway. And sa dami namin di kami kasya sa aming dining room!

Look at these two boys. Ang saya saya ng mga mukha. Hotdogs ang ham lang naman ang kinain ng mga yan!

After we had our sumptuous meal, we proceeded with our gift giving. Oo nga pala, it's our first Christmas with a Christmas tree! Hehehe.

We sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus first. Then, Rap acted as our master of ceremonies. He gave the first gift to Lola Aba. Syempre, we won't forget the rule : Kiss the one who gave you the gift. Nakaraming kiss si Rap, puro pangalan kasi niya ang nilagay ko sa tags ng gifts namin eh. Ate Megan became his big helper.

And after all the giving and the kissing.... syempre opening na!

That's Olec opening all of his gifts. Di ba sulit na sulit talaga pag nakikita ang happiness sa face ng mga bata once it's gift giving and opening time?

This is Rap opening our gift to him. Naks! Lumi Drum yata yan! Syempre our most expensive gift would be for our most beloved person in the world. We hope that this gift will further hone his musical gift.

Hehehe... Obvious bang haping-happy ang lahat sa mga nakuha nila? Ang saya-saya talaga!

I bought a bottle of tequila and a couple of limes. We had tequila shots afterwards. Siguro by 2 am we slept na rin. We had to go to Pasig pa to my parents' house for our Christmas lunch.

Sa Pasig, gift giving na naman. I'm so touched kasi even Lloyd and Christie had gifts for everyone considering that they have a lot of expenses with the new baby. Ang baby Clyde, which I fondly call Pasaway, made our day worthwhile. Pinaglaruan ko nang pinaglaruan. Humahagikhik pag tinatawag na Pasaway. Sayang, I can't upload the video of my gwapong pamangkin here.

Si Mama, ewan ko ba kung nang-aasar o nagpi-pressure lang, gift ba naman sa akin maternity dress! Grrr.... Eh ganun daw yun para matuloy ang pagbubuntis. Pamahiin ng matatanda.

I hope they're happy with our gifts, too. We bought them a DVD player. ;p

Ang saya talaga pag nakakapagpasaya ka ng mga tao. Talagang feel namin na this Christmas wala kaming nakalimutang maambunan ng blessings. Dahil sobra sobra ang mga dumarating sa amin, it's just befitting that we share everything.