Lily, Lydia, and Mary are loving the Philippines. It is so amazing that they get to connect with their roots in that way. They are even getting to meet family members Lily had never met before (Betty, Louie and Benji’s mother) and ones she hadn’t seen in a very long time (like Tita, Betty’s sister).
On Christmas, they went to a giant family party hosted by Ginny’s family. The party was an absolute blast. There is a huge food culture in the Philippines and it has been fun to hear about all the pork Lily has been eating even though she usually doesn’t opt for Pork. Benji has been guiding her around to the important, tasty and authentic foods she needs to make sure she eats while she’s in the Philippines. Also, there is also a big culture of performance in the Philippines, meaning people love to have family members perform for the family and friends, and they especially love to have kids perform for the family and friends. Mary got to play the piano for everyone! Lily and Clark were over the moon with delight as they learned that Louie and Benji also had to recite Shakespear at dinner parties in their household and that it wasn’t just Lily and Clark that had to do that growing up!! The party was such a beautiful family and cultural experience for Lily and the girls. What a priceless experience!
Back at the homefront, we also had a wonderful Christmas. In the morning, we started with stockings. It’s amazing what one can do in a blitz 23 minute target run. The stockings pulled off great. The only hitch was that one of the oranges exploded in Clarissa’s stocking so I had to deal with that lol.
Ammon also got a stuffed copperhead snake which had shipping complications (today he just got a printout of his gift). Ammon is really into Snakes right now, and that is one of the more famous snakes in North Carolina, where we are moving to. Clarissa also got a Barbie doll and a Ken doll. We watched the new Barbie movie as a family a week ago, and since then Clarissa had been asking for Barbies. Thank you Amazon for shipping so quickly!!
Here are the kids opening their stockings:
And here is Ammon taking a video of his stocking contents:
It was so sweet seeing Suzanne look through Clarissa’s new stickers with her.
Here is Ammon opening up his “Copperhead Snake” and his box with a dragon eye on it and Clarissa opening up her stuffed bear from my dad and Suzanne. Clarissa also got a unicorm box from Santa and Ammon got a Lego set my dad and Suzanne which will be so great for him.
Clarissa opening her Barbies from Santa and Ammon opening up his legos (from my dad and Suzanne)
Also, my dad made delicious waffles for breakfast. The amazing fruit sause was from my aunt Andrea I believe.
For the big gifts, I had been planning them for a while. Ammon and Clarissa were introduced to the Nintedo Switch and Smash Brothers on our Alaskan cruise this year and they absolutely loved it. I’ve been plotting ever since to get the family a couple of Switches for Christmas. Nintendo was a part of my life growing up too, and I had visions of us enjoying the Switches as a family. So I got the family two Switches with Mario Kart and Smash Brothers. Ammon and Clarissa were so excited when they opened the presents, and the literally played almost every available second for the rest of Christmas. At one point, Suzanne offered to play a game or something else with them, and they replied something like, “no, we are stuck on the TV”. I also played endless hours of Mario Kart and Smash Brothers with them, and Jere too. We all had so much fun. It is one of my favorite Christmas memories ever. It was so nice for me to relax and have fun amidst all the work I’ve been absorbed in and to play Nintendo with my kids and brother, Jere, was just the best. David also sent us a lot of tips about the Switch since he has one, and is helping us get some things that will make our experience even better. Jere also got a Switch for Christmas from my dad and Suzanne (part Christmas, part late birthday present), and our friends Morgan and Jessie gave their kids a Switch for Christmas too (which they loved!). It is a very Switchy Christmas!
Around 11:30, David, Olivia and Ozzy came over and it was so cute to see Ozzy open his present.
Then I played more Nintendo with Ammon, Clarissa and Jere (so fun!). Then we got to catch up with Lily, Lydia and Mary in Asia. It was so wonderful to have a good chat with them and hear about all their adventures!
After that, Suzanne and my dad served an incredible ham, potato, vegetable and jello marshmallow salad dinner. Jere also made cauliflower soup that went so well with the ham and croutons. Jeff, Lauralee, Jeff, Marylou, Henry and Steve were in attendance.
It was so nice to visit with everyone and after dinner and visiting family members, we played “Are You Dumber than a Box of Rocks?” We lost to the rocks the first game and I begged for a rematch, to prove our intelligence was higher than that of rocks. Fortunately we won the second game (all this while Ammon and Clarissa still played Nintendo). After that, I played more Nintendo with Ammon and Clarissa. I then put them to bed after reading them each a book, and I then played Nintendo with just Jere.
What a seriously happy, full and yet so relaxing day. It has so wonderful to be with family, and the Nintendo has been so fun.