Christmas in the Philippines

We've developed some unique holiday traditions. One of them goes back to when I was younger. On Christmas Eve, my mom prepares some simple filipino dishes. We are all gathered together, visiting, and waiting for the clock to strike midnight. That's when we can finally greet each other with a hearty, "Merry Christmas!!" Then my mom and dad will gather us and we pray together. We give God thanks for everything, and after that, partake of the yummy food my mom has for us. We are not into buying "Christmas presents". In the Philippines, putting food on the table is the priority. Only if there are any surplus funds do some simple and inexpensive gifts get exchanged.

Until this past September, I had been away from my family for over 5 years. It is truly a blessing to have spent this time with them, especially Christmas and New Year's.

                        Elise handing 5 peso coin to the carolers, we get at least 3 groups of carolers a night.

                                                   Food my mom prepared

                   this is the first Christmas that we had gifts under our tree

                                           Elise giving gifts to her friends

                                           Elise giving gifts

We also had a church Christmas party, we sang praise songs and after that we had our parlor games and then we shared food..

                                             Elise participating the parlor games

                                                                Snacks after the party

We had a great time here in the Philippines, spending special occasions with family, it could have been merrier if Paul was with us. Wish all of you had a wonderful Christmas..