Like many of you out there, I just love this time of year. Christmas has always been such a fun time for me and my family and it’s become even more special. I guess it all started 26 years ago when my Mom brought us over here from the Philippines on Christmas day. Single mom with two little boys in tow, migrating to a strange place all by herself. Now, that is a story that deserves its own post. These days I love this time of year because I am now seeing our new little family members experience what we loved so much when we were younger. Watching Lucas gawking at the Christmas tree and ripping open all his presents is just so cool. And I’m sure it’s just going to get crazier and more fun in the coming years.

This year was pretty chill compared to the last few years. We didn’t have any extended relatives over this time as my first cousins have moved out of state and my Grandma decided to go the the Philippines this year. But of course it was still a blast as we had an overdose of holiday foods and an excess of Christmas gifts (thanks to my mom!). Best gifts of the year: Lucas’s portable DVD player and Tristan’s digital camera. Just so you know, Lucas is 17 months old and Tristan is 2 years old! :)

I have a feeling next year will be even better! Happy New Year!

My Mom’s famous tree.

The little dudes having fun.

Lucas just LOVES his DVD player. Always looks for it now. Crazy boy!

4.1 Megapixels! It’s a plasticized digital camera for kids.

Here are the two booboojingjings playing around on the bench. (That’s what my mom calls them…it means absolutely nothing!)

Mom and Danny with the boys.

Here is my new assistant in training. We’ve finally taught him to take pictures with our point and shoot (Canon S400). It’s about time! Sheeesh…took him until 17 months to figure it out ;) He actually laughs like crazy when he clicks and the flash goes off. Quite funny. I’ll have to teach him about natural lighting…give him another six months to start shooting with the 5D in Manual.

It’s that time of the year, so I dragged the family to take some shots for our Christmas photo card. This year will be the first time all of us will be on the card. Last year, Lucas made a solo appearance. After many, many minutes of picking and choosing, we decided on this shot. Lucas’ facial expression is just priceless. Thank goodness for Pocket Wizards and remote triggering…if we had to do self-timer, I would have seriously been pulling my hair out!

So, hopefully if your good, you will get one in the mail…Happy Holidays!

Here is Lucas sticking stuff in his ears, his favorite thing to do lately. Aren’t we just great parents?! His hair is getting so long now that I blow dry it after his baths. It’s a little colder and I don’t want him to get too cold.