Joshua is my hubby's oldest grandkid. He was just 9 years old when I got here in the US. Now he's 13 and he still loves collecting hot wheels. He got lots and lots of them. I remember when hubby was in the Philippines, he talked fondly of Josh. Hubby said he's a good and well-disciplined kid. Being an only child of a christian parents, he was raised up in a christian way. Hubby and I love him. Hubby also said that Josh got his good looks from his papa and that's my hubby of course, he-he-he!!!
I checked my e-mail last night and finally my sister has e-mailed me their photos while opening the balikbayan box that we sent them. She and my two brothers had thanked me and hubby a million times already for sending them some stuffs. She said they were all so happy. Simple things from us really make them happy and appreciative even though some of the things I sent were bought from a yard sale. I told them I'm happy if they're happy. While looking at their photos, it made me miss them more. I haven't seen them for more than 4 years and how I miss them.
Lorenzo Alexander or L.A. is my hubby's youngest grandson. He is now 2 and a half years old. Hubby and I are so fond of him and also his baby sister Consuelo. In fact we wanted to take him with us even just for a couple of weeks but we're afraid that he might miss his parents and he will cry and cry. He was cooperative enough when I took photos of him.
Last Sunday after church service, hubby and I drove to Alvarado. We spent Christmas there with his kids and grandkids. The last time we were there was last October and we're so glad to see all of them except Wayne and Melissa because they live in Iowa. We spent 4 days there in Alvarado. I took lots and lots of photos of course. If I'm carrying my camera, expect it to click and flash. That's my hobby, taking photos. I just love photography. I took lots of photos of Consuelo, my hubby's only granddaughter. She's more than 9 months old now and she's a cutie, chubby and a good baby. I just love her.
I was still sleeping early this morning when the telephone rang. I looked at the clock and it was 5:45 AM. I got up slowly and I went to listen to the voice message. It was from my sister Violy in the Philippines. She said that the balikbayan box that we sent to them last month just arrived very early today there. She said that I should go online so we can see them in the webcam. But the thing is their webcam didn't work so we were not able to see them open the box as we used to do whenever they receive a package from us. They told me that they will just send photos of them while opening the box. They were so happy to receive those stuffs that we sent them like chocolates, canned goods, shampoos, bath soaps, clothes, and a lot more. That's their Christmas gifts from us. I talked to my sister, my aunt and my 2 brothers on the phone afterwards and they were all so happy and thankful. Just simple things from us made them very happy and appreciative. I will post the photos when my sister will e-mail it to me.
Hubby and I went to the mall after lunch today. He bought me my Christmas presents which I have been requesting from him. I wanted to have a silver necklace with matching earrings. He also bought me a silver wrist watch and a necklace with swarovski crystal pendant. They are not that expensive because they're on sale. It's Christmas time and sale are everywhere so we really had a big discount. I've been asking him to replace my jewelries which were stolen early this year. We didn't have a budget for a diamond ring to replace my diamond ring which was also stolen. But anyways, I love my new jewelries though they're only silver and not gold especially it was given to me by my dearest hubby.photos+195.jpg)
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Our revival in our church started last Sunday. Our guest speaker Bro. Dave McCracken is a very good evangelist. Last Sunday morning, he preached about repentance. He said that you can't be saved without repentance from your sins. He also said that repentance and faith are like siamese twins. You repent from your sins because you believe that God will save you if you do. Bro. Dave knows how to catch the audience attention. He told stories that relates to the verses that he read. He makes it easy for us to understand the verses by explaining to us in a simple way. He also cracked jokes that made us laugh. He even jumped and laughed when he gets excited while preaching. He was really on fire. Last night his preaching touched our hearts that most of us were teary-eyed. Tonight Bro. McCracken will preach again. Our revival will last until tonight. It's our prayer that after the revival, all of us will be revived and our faith will be strengthen. We took photos with Bro. Dave and his wife Nancy McCracken last night as souvenirs.photos+188.jpg)
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My hubby had invited me yesterday to attend the Christmas lunch for the teachers and staff in the school where he works. It was my first time to go to his workplace and meet his co-workers. They were all so nice and I ate lunch with them. I got to see Mary and Cathy finally. Mary and I had been sending e-mails to each other and I talked to Cathy on the phone twice. They told me how they love my lumpia and they said they can eat a bunch of them. It just made me smile. I've seen the kids gave high five to my hubby. The kids were so cute. Hubby had been receiving gift cards from the kids in the school as Christmas gift. Some gave my hubby shower gel, granola and candy bars. My hubby said that the school where he works now is the best place he's ever worked in his life. All his co-workers are so nice and friendly and also the kids in that school are so cute. My hubby loves kids and he enjoyed working around them everyday.
Our friends Pastor Yanie and Sis Modie treated us for lunch at Golden Corral buffet restaurant yesterday. It was their 28th wedding anniversary and we celebrated it there. They spent the night with us last Friday and they went back to Bowie yesterday afternoon. It was so cold and windy yesterday so we had to wear layered clothes and thick coats. While we were at the restaurant, we keep taking photos as souvenir of that special occasion in our friends married life. They will be flying to Los Angeles, California on Tuesday and after three weeks they gonna fly back to the Philippines.
They've been here in Texas for one and a half year to attend the Bible Translation class. They're so excited to go back and see their kids and their church members. Anyways, we had a good meal yesterday. I got to eat again my favorites meatloaf, chicken fried steak, grilled chicken and corn on the cob. I wish I can eat more but my belly get full easily. My mouth wanted to eat more but my belly said "stop, no more place". But I managed to eat a small slice of carrot cake and a cookie for my dessert. At night I didn't really eat because I was still full. Thanks to Pastor Yanie and Sis Modie for a delicious meal. We will miss you guys. Have a safe trip.
Yesterday, Sis Modie and I went shopping at Wal Mart. I just bought something for myself and of course a Christmas gift for my hubby. I don't want him to see what I bought for him so it will be a surprise. He doesn't know that I bought something for him. He was at work that time so he would be surprised when he get his gift on Christmas Day. It's so nice roaming around without being in a hurry. Whenever I go with my hubby at Wal Mart, he's always in a hurry and doesn't want to roam around. I just like seeing what's on sale. Before checking out we took pictures infront of the Christmas tree. photos+152.jpg)
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We had such a great time tonight in the church. We held there the Ladies' Christmas Party. It was hosted by Ms. Marsha, our pastor's wife. She prepared mostly finger foods and some ladies brought some desserts. I was so hungry that I ate to my heart's delight. The foods were delicious. After we ate, we picked our gifts. By the way each lady had to bring a gift worth $10. Ms. Marsha let us draw lots and I got number 13. The lady who got number 1 was the first to pick a gift. Then she opens it and have to display it. If the next lady wanted the gift that Lady number 1 got then she can steal it. It was really fun. The gift I got was a pair of candle holders. They're so cute and I already displayed it in our coffee table. I was the only one who brought a camera so as usual I took some photos.
This award was given to me by Cecil. Thank you very much for the thought. It's my pleasure to receive this award. I want to pass this to Ging and Sis Modie.
These are old photos of me and my hubby when we went to California 4 years ago. We had such a good time visiting my college friends there. We stayed in Stockton at the house of Lina, my best friend in college. We stayed there for 17 days, free board and lodging, wink! My friend and her hubby took us to the beautiful spots in California like the Golden Gate in San Francisco, the long and winding road at Lombard Street in SFO, the Universal Studios in Hollywood, and Lake Tahoe.My friend Lina wanted us to ride the Heavenly Gondola but it was closed that time because it was snowy and windy. So we went to Lake Tahoe and took some pics then we proceeded to Cesar's Palace in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
We also visited one of our college friends in San Diego who is now in the navy and he took us to Sea World. All the entrance fees were taken care of by my friends but we treated them to lunch. So we saved money and we really had a good time there. Our navy friend wanted to take us to Tijuana, Mexico because it's just beyond the border of San Diego but I didn't have yet my green card that time so we didn't go. We just drove by and he showed us the border and across it is Tijuana. We had a grand time touring California from north to south. Hope to go back there someday.
I just want to feature here one of my digiscrapbook works that I did last summer. This was taken infront of our house. Hubby took the photo and I just posed. Here it is.
My blogger friend Juliana gave me these awards. I am so delighted to receive these awards and so I grabbed it at once. 
I would like to pass these awards to Jerla, Liza, Nancy, Rosemarie and Vicki.
Get Santa's code here
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Hubby took these photos last night right after we came home from the Church's Christmas Banquet. I asked him to take photos in our front porch. I just want to capture in picture the Christmas decorations that we put in our porch. The pics didn't really turn out that good. It's kinda blurry but still I wanted to post it here. The battery of my digicam was exhausted that's why. I would just take other pics next time. Anyways, after we had put up our Christmas tree and also those lights and ornaments at our front porch, I can say that I really feel now the spirit of Christmas. Last night we got a gift from our church, a beautiful Christmas card with a Christmas songs CD. I just love listening to it.
Last Saturday my hubby was busy putting up our Christmas tree while I was here infront of my computer busy blogging. After he assembled the Christmas tree he put the ornaments and the lights. Then he called me and asked me to go and look. I was so thrilled to see our Christmas tree standing again with all the decorations. Hubby did a good job. The next day I just added the red bows as finishing touches of our Christmas tree. It made the tree look better. Our Christmas tree is 6 1/2 feet tall which I bought at Wal Mart a day after Christmas 4 years ago. It was on sale, 50% off when I bought it. This is the 3rd year that we used the same Christmas tree and I still like it. I plan to use it for as long as it's still in good shape. If you noticed in the picture, I was wearing my new blouse which I blogged previously.
We had a good Christmas banquet in our church tonight. Lots and lots of foods were brought in by the church members. There were ham, turkey, green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and a lot more that I can't remeber. Of course there were lots of desserts, different kinds of cakes, cookies, pies, etc. I brought lumpia and as expected they were all gone not too long. The dining hall was well decorated with garlands, Christmas lights, Christmas ornaments and Christmas trees. After eating, Bro. Hugh had preached a good message. We had such a good time tonight in the church. By the way, our Pastor and his wife arrived yesterday from a week vacation. It's good they're back safely and we missed them.
Hubby and I went to church this morning. We had a great service today. Bro. Allen preached because our pastor and his wife are still on vacation. From Ohio they headed to Georgia and they will be coming back on Tuesday. After lunch I asked my hubby to take me to JC Penney in the mall so I can do Christmas shopping for the grandkids. At first hubby doesn't want to go because he said a lot of people are there in the mall shopping today. I persuaded him so we went. We just bought clothes for our 6 grandkids and of course I bought also for myself a magenta, fleece long sleeve shirt and a pink bath towel. Is it obvious that I love pink color? The fleece long sleeve shirt was on sale. The regular price was $29.99 and they marked it down to $14.99 plus tax. I just love the soft fabric of this shirt.
I just love doing digiscrapbooking. It's one way of expressing my creativity and style. But lately I haven't had enough time to do it. I've been busy blogging and doing other things. I had made quite a few before so I just want to show it here. I already posted these in my other sites.
