Xmas (2010)

I would have posted Xmas pictures sooner but I have two good reasons why I am so delayed this year. First, Jojo and I were both down with the flu on Xmas eve, Xmas day and actually till today (and it's already the 28th). Today is actually the first day I feel some semblance of returning to "normalcy". It's hard since I have not been able to take any meds to alleviate the stuffy nose, sore throat and coughing. All I can take is regular Tylenol or the generic brands which don't really help all that much. But enough about that. The second reason is I don't have that many pics to share. When we looked at the few pics we have on our camera, most of them were shots of the food and presents rather than people! Jojo and I were the hosts this year and so we didn't have much time to gather people for photos. I'll have to wait for my in-laws to post their pics and borrow their copies then =) So, anyway, here are a few pics we have for now:

Christmas Eve was spent with my in-laws. After Xmas mass at St. Margaret Mary's we met at our place. This is one of my few photos with "people". Jojo's family has a strict tradition that presents are only opened at midnight and we only get to eat noche buena after that. We had to while away the time watching DVDs, snacking on finger foods, and playing games. Not easy to keep a group of 23 people (9 of them kids) entertained! But it was fun trying =)

The guys hanging around waiting for us to start with another game (I think this time we were going to play charades). Notice how no one is looking at the camera ... getting a decent group shot is like herding cats!

At around 11:30, we started setting the table. The star of our noche buena was this 8-pound Honeybaked ham. I had to order this 2 weeks ago otherwise it was sold out. But it was worth it cause it was so good! And I mean SOOO GOOOD! I served the ham with horseradish mayo, plain mayo, and and dijon mustard.

I also had a basket of warm, fluffy pan de sal which was perfect with the ham. These are my favorites. I get them from a local Filipino bakery called Valerios. They are super cheap $2.00 for 16 pieces - but really good and taste like the ones back home!

My sisters-in-law also brought their share of food. Marik, brought fresh lumpia (which was super yummy!) and suman with latik. Not pictured is the roasted chickens (Tracy brought), the big pot of sopas (Len brought) and the two whole baked salmons (Cha brought).

Here are the famous Porto's cheese rolls and pastries that Edel brought. Plus for dessert, we also had a huge bowl of fruit salad (not pictured).

Look at all those Xmas presents ... we had to stash them in the garage since there wouldn't be any space to walk around if we kept them in the living room. There were even more presents under the tree! Who says Xmas is just for kids? We, adults, had our fair share too!

On Xmas day, we were suppose to meet Atsi and Mark for lunch but because we were feeling so out of it that day, we had to postpone lunch to the 26th. We met mid-way for lunch at Todai. We exchanged presents and food (I made them a tray of baked macaroni and they got us our favorite pumpernickel bread which Atsi's gets from a local bakery near their place).

Here is a shot of Atsi and I in front of the mall. We are waiting for the guys before heading inside to do some shopping. Notice how much bigger I am than Atsi (who's always been so tiny!).

So that was our holiday celebration here. Merry Christmas from Jojo, me and Jellybean! (I am 27 weeks along in this picture).