Holiday Season #2

So, this year, my mom wanted Christmas portraits...so we all dressed up and went to get some pictures taken. Maybe I'll post of those pictures! In the mean time, here's a pic of the hubby and I in the waiting room.

Here's another...wait a minute...who's taking this picture on my camera??? =)
For Christmas, we all went to my auntie Eding's house. It was another small crowd, but it was one of the most fun Christmases we've had in a couple years! For one, the TV wasn't turned on once during the evening, so we definitely had some family bonding! We bonded through food and games. Here's a picture of everyone there right before opening presents. Our family members absent due to distance, we miss you all!!!

Here's a picture of my (back row), Jun, Eli, Neil (front row), Angela, Jeremy (filling in for me since this is, apparently, a married couples picture) and Faith. Faith and Neil, our newest married couple in the Patricio family are becoming Hawaii residents in less than a week. On the one hand, we're going to miss yet more family around...but seriously, THEY'RE MOVING TO HAWAII!!! Hopefully we can take them up on their invitation to visit. =)

Ah, yes, the head of the family - Inang and Tatang! Love my grandparents. Aren't they cute???

Ooooo!!! Caught the hubby sneaking food before we officially starting eating. Busted!!!

The hubby getting the Patricio family history lesson while looking at some pictures from many, many moons ago.

Here's Savannah's first Christmas with Auntie Eding. She had a good time though didn't quite make it to the presents time since we wait until midnight on Christmas Eve to open presents.

We also had a small family get together at my sister's house. Here are the parentals.

Eli...helping my sister cook? That doesn't seem right...oh, wait, I think he just popped over for the picture. Okay, that's more like it!

Oh, yes, and here's the proud parents showing off how their daughter can now sit up on her own. Well, its either that or they're grooming her for a life in the circus...one of those...

I love this picture of my sister and Savannah. So cute!!!

It was so nice to spend so much time with family. I look forward to New Years, too!

Florida 08

I'm loving the month of December! It was packed full of stuff, and I'm happy to report, not much working going on! =) hehe... people are too busy with the holidays to schedule audits, and that's fine and dandy with me! It has allowed me to take some time off GUILT-FREE and visit with family and friends and ... wait for it... RELAX! Oh, it has been so great to be happy and not stressed. It has done wonders for me! I feel more like myself, and that is always a good thing, don't you think? In December, I have not worked a full week yet! Here's what I've been doing:

December started out with a trip down south for the weekend with the hubby and my brother's birthday (see below post).

On December 11, the hubby and I flew out to Orlando to be with his parents and family for his parent's 40th anniversary. What they wanted for their anniversary was for everyone to be together, so how more together can we be than on a weekend cruise to the Bahamas?!?!?!?! It was a lot of fun...other being sick for the majority of the weekend and that we were denied our second stop because of bad whether and had to stay on the boat a full extra day!

But, honestly, I only have good memories of the cruise. Here are a couple pictures:

Valerie & Eliasib on the last night of the cruise in the theater waiting for the last show to start.

The Ruban family during the dress-up dinner (Valerie, meanwhile, was sleeping a fever off in her cabin and didn't get to wear her pretty, new dress - boo!).

Picture of our cruise boat. What a pretty day in Nassau!

Valerie & hubby on the first night at dinner.

Carrie & Ruben at dinner. What a cute couple! They were so happy just to be out of freezing, snowy Chicago! We're looking forward to seeing them just before New Years, too!

The happy couple celebrating their 40th. Wish we could live closer so we could spend more time together!

Glorybell and Ivan - my sister-in-law and "future" brother-in-law.

When we got back to Orlando, we had a couple days to do errands and hang out with the family and friends. Here's a picture of dinner with some of our bestest friends:

Sean & Eli. Eli misses his partner-in-crime...er...I mean, his buddy.


Elizabeth (and Ethan) and Kristen...miss you girls! It was so nice to see these two who I miss so much. Wish we had more time!

All in all, our Florida trip was fabulous. Wish we could it more often and for longer!!!

Holiday Season #1

Well, I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! In order to not fall behind, I have posted a couple things in this post:

Brother's turning OLD! Hehe...although he will obviously be younger than me and be my little brother, he's nearing the 30 club! Jun turned 29 this year, and we celebrated at a very yummy restaurant and ice cream cake afterwards. Here's a picture of the birthday boy!



Here is is "eating" one of his birthday gifts. For all you non-filipinos out there, adobo is a very popular filipino dish - chicken adobo is yummy! Cool shirt, Jun!
I couldn't resist taking this picture of Junior trying to lay the guilt trip on Tammy for some ice cream cake...smart dog!

In other news, the comopany flew the hubby and I down south for our Christmas party. It was tons of fun with food, dinner, dancing, gifts! Somehow, though, I came away with no pictures of the company christmas party and only with these couple few:

Christmas on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills:

View from our morning breakfast in Long Beach, CA:

Palm tree in Long Beach:

Thanksgiving was fun this year! Dulce came up and helped us vege around the house all weekend! Great fun! Here's a picture of the family eating and enjoying each other's company:

...and here's a picture of my grandma next to the traditional Filipino-American Thanksgiving spread: Turkey, yams, pancit, mashed potatoes, fish, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, bibingka...ya know, all the regular dishes! =)