Kayo, Summer and Emma have all been sick the last week. So this weekend we really just stayed home and allowed ourselves to get the rest our bodies demanded. I’m very thankful that, today, everybody is doing a lot better. Summer and Emma are their playful selves again and are slowly getting their appetite back. So instead of posting weekend snapshots, I decided to share glimpses into the Christmas season that was and share our happy moments from the last few weeks.
Christmas Day
Christmas morning was probably my favorite part of Christmas! It’s when we all gather together as a family for brunch at Kayo’s parents’ house and open presents.
As always, the food was good and the gift-giving was crazy fun, especially because there are five grandkids all under the age of five. I love the overwhelmed look at the children’s faces as one wrapped present after another was piled in front of them. They looked paralysed as they tried to choose which toy to play with first! And of course there’s Emma, the youngest, who was more interested in wrapping paper than in the actual gift. I also loved how the living room became a sea of toys, opened boxes and ripped paper. It was messy, crazy fun!
Afterwards, there was the scrumptious brunch and then while some lounged to watch Christmas movies, the others, including me, played Monopoly Empire, which was my Christmas gift to Kayo! The kids played with their brand new toys and ran around the garden with Lolo. It was a beautiful and blessed day! And I should not fail to mention turkey dinner that evening, which was pure delight!
Beach Break
The very day after Christmas, Kayo, the kids and I headed out to La Union. It was a vacation we all deserved!
At El Union with one of my best friends and Summer’s godmother, Isel, the day before she flies back to NY
There we got to spend some time with friends from abroad who came home for the holidays. It was also a memorable trip for us because, if you remember from past beach trip posts, Summer hated sand. However, on this trip, she had a breakthrough and suddenly decided that it was okay to walk on the beach. Hallelujah!
New Year
After five days enjoying the sun, sand and sea, we headed back home to welcome 2014.
As I mentioned on my New Year’s post, Kayo and I had a very simple New Year’s eve celebration at home. It was just him and me (Summer and Emma, who both had fever then, slept early) enjoying some churros and hot chocolate. The next day, the kids were feeling a little better so we took them out and enjoyed another pleasant day in the city.
As I look back, I realize how simple our festivities were and yet how happy everyone was. It was far from perfect specially with the kids getting sick and us having to work on a tight budget the entire time. It was also my first year in a long time that I didn’t have a Christmas bonus so I could only contribute a little to the holiday expense. Of course we had stressful moments when I wished we had a little bit more. But despite all that, everything turned out well, even great.
I think having less, made us focus more on the things that matter, like prayer, devotions, quality time together as a family and giving our children happy memories. Having a little to work with made us more creative and extra thankful. And doing the Advent Calendar activities with the kids each day towards Christmas helped keep things meaningful. So even if we did not have the most extravagant Christmas and New Year, we were definitely and utterly blessed. And that’s all I really hoped for. Thank you, Jesus! 😀
I hope your holidays were blessed and meaningful as well!
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