lifeisacelebration

It’s that time of the year again. Looking all around, and stuck in traffic jams all around the city, it certainly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

That’s the Airport decked in Christmas lights and decor!

Has it been a year? A granddaughter is well into her teens. Fifteen is a nice young age to discover new interests and develop friendships to last and count many years. It’s that age when shopping trips and watching movies are more fun with friends than with ahem….. family. Patricia’s artistic talent got her enrolled for summer class in SoFA and self-expressions found their way into her photography, sketches and t-shirt designs. Of the latter, she poured many late hours designing the shirt for her school batch — the Sophomores, as she did year-earlier for the Freshmen — and was rewarded with recognition and an award for best design. Reminds me of the time she designed her own dress to wear to her Grade School Batch Party. Sweet girl minus the moods……. And that occasional streak when she enjoys scaring her Mamu with a frog!

Anna Patricia and Her Frog. Now she knows what makes me jump!

I blinked. And the little girl grew up!

Martin turned 12 TODAY – – his last pre-teen year but remains our sweet, loving boy. Tall for his age, but never too old to charm his Mamu to bring him to Heaven & Eggs in Glorietta 4. Last week, he asked me to gift him with Polaroid film and promptly took shots in quirky, artsy “The Collective”. He is graduating from Grade School in March. Of course he didn’t fail to ask me to enroll him again for badminton lessons next summer. I remember how I used to dread meeting his teachers in school. Lovingly, sweetly, they’d invariably recount how “talkative” our dear Martin is. Mr. Congeniality, that’s him. This young gentleman also opens doors for his Mamu. At least whenever he remembers 😉 From food trips, Martin is now beginning to discover the joys of shopping. Scary thought!

Our sweet, charming boy. Martin never fails to get me OUT of my grumpy mood. A hug and a kiss never fails!

a Treasured Photo………

How time flies! Our “nest” is emptying out. NO, more like branching out……. to Sydney and Madrid. Birthdays and Christmases shared via Skype or FaceTime. Truly, Christmas is in the heart. Before long, I should be leaving to join one in Madrid. I rummaged through my files and found these photos of my girls. Back when the youngest was only 6 months old. I got them to pose nearly the same way on the same sofa in the ancestral house years later. It’s a treasured photo now!

Sarah and Yane on Facetime. Mayette at work. The Bautistas with Sarah on a trip to Corregidor.

And me? I’ve had my fill of adventures this 2012 just as my 2 blogsites each hit 100,000 views. Early in the year, I left and lived in Spain for nearly 3 months where I helped set up house for a niece. Back in Manila in May, in time to enjoy the last few weeks of Manila summer with the rest of family. Before long, I was off to a dream trip in August. Another one off my bucket list. South Africa and Zambia. All adventures fully documented, to include some domestic destinations which were shelved for the longest time.

Google “liliram” for my TravelBlog site. Google “lifeisacelebration” for my wordpress site.

Trips filed according to destination. There’s one for Spain. Another for Africa.

All told, it was another wonderful year. AND YES, IT’S A MERRY CHRIST-MAS!

Christmas cheer to everyone!

CHRISTMAS IS IN OUR HEARTS!