{Noche Buena 2011}

What a blessing it is to have a great family tradition for the kids to experience. Christmas eve was celebrated at our house with a traditional Filipino Noche buena menu with my side of the family. I must admit that there were some emotional moments for me earlier that morning. I missed my Dad dearly. He absolutely love Noche Buena!

Our family of four at Christmas Eve
We attended the Christmas Eve mass service at our church. It was kind of crowded and it made it difficult to listen in to the sermon.
Samantha looked so adorable in this dress.
Sweet lil princess and Mommy.
My handsome boy. My, he has grown so much!
Few more pictures with our family.
Lil sister and big brother having fun!

My sister had worked the night before and was running late for dinner. We went ahead and gave the kids their bathes and put on their jammies while waiting for her.

Santa William was so excited that dinner is ready! Yummy Noche Buena menu---lechon, pansit, shrimps, etc.

In addition to the Filipino fruit salad, we served cake as well to celebrate my brother's birthday.

William and Samantha have been waiting and was so happy that it was time to open presents.My mom got William some MoonDough and he absolutely loved it! He's been wanting one and we tried our best to avoid them for all the mess it makes :) I guess Lola can do no wrong.

Samantha was so excited to open this big present from Tita Susan. Big brother was a great help!

She was so excited to find out that it was a dollhouse!

What a busy Christmas eve! We said goodbye to our elf Timmy and left Santa some cookies.

And we can't forget about Santa's reindeers, so we made sure to leave 9 carrots right next to Santa's plate.