CHRISTMAS 2014

Our family had a couple of firsts this past Christmas:

We had our first Christmas tree... and what made our first tree special was that it was a real tree! It took us until the week of Christmas to finally get one and I'm so happy we did. It smelled so good and fresh especially right after it was cut, and when we set it up at home, it looked sooooo pretty even before we decorated it. I did get scratches all over my hands and arms from putting lights around it and I had this silly thought that a squirrel might poke from somewhere in the tree while I was doing it which made the experience quite memorable for me. Hehe! Anyway, after we're done dressing it up, and the gifts went under it, I felt inspired. It looked a lot like Christmas in the Valencia household then ;)

We celebrated our first Noche Buena as a family at our first home. Since it was just the three of us, we only prepared a simple dinner of baked macaroni with meat sauce and mornay sauce, maja blanca, roasted pork butt, green salad and fruits. We finished dinner right around midnight and then proceeded to open presents.

So what did we get for Christmas? ;)

Vonn Kaleb got books - lots of it - and flash cards, some jammies, toys, Amazon gift card, and a blanky. I'm so happy when I saw his new loot of books! The little one has been learning a lot from the books we read him every night at bedtime. He loves being read to, and at times, he'd grab books and flip pages himself as if he can actually read. The flash cards we previously gave him also helped him learn the alphabet, and so for Christmas, we gave him a couple new sets of flash cards. It was apparent though that his favorite of all his Christmas presents was the toy CAT truck/back hoe that our friend from church gave him. That was the first gift we opened and he didn't care so much for the other presents after that. Hehe! Vince and I got gift cards from his clinic staff and baking/cooking gadgets from friends. We did get a few more presents from friends which unfortunately I couldn't remember what now #seniormoment. Vince did get a dress shirt and tie, a Levi's button down shirt, a Levi's sweatshirt, and boxers from Vonn Kaleb and me. I'm excited to see him wearing those, particularly the boxers... ooppps! #R18 #maturereadersrequired Hehe!

Me? I only wanted a DIY fireplace makeover for Christmas, which I got ;) Okay, I'm not gonna lie... maybe in the deepest recesses of my heart, I wanted to get another Louis Vuitton purse or a Burberry, Chanel or Prada... just maybe. LOL! Or maybe that's in my birthday wishlist for next year along with another trip somewhere in the Caribbean again. Hehe! So anyway, my dear husband spoilt me with an iPad Air 2 and a Versace perfume for Christmas. I wasn't expecting he'd get me a tablet as I'm very much content with our old iPad 3, but yeah, now I have a new toy, and I'm loving it... but not as much as the one who gave it to me ;) Thanks again, love!

We finished opening the presents around 2am and went to bed soon after that. We slept in on Christmas day and pretty much vegetated except of course for Vonn Kaleb who kept himself busy playing with his new toy truck. Hehe! Vince didn't have to work on Christmas day and spending the whole day as a complete family, for me, was the perfect way to celebrate the holiday.

And that, my friends, was how the Valencias spent their Christmas. I know this post is a little too late but I hope you had a wonderful Christmas yourselves☻