All Things Gwen

Ohhhhh I love the holidays!

What does your family do? Pretty much when I asked everyone on Facebook told me they have this thing with Christmas pajamas and breakfast at the parents. I swear that I saw a bunch of pics on my friend Steve’s page – and like 15 people were wearing the same pajamas! It was hilarious and looked like so much fun! (I’m trying to get those pictures from him, too! They make me happy.)

My cousin, Peter, and I are with our Aunt Bella and Grandpa Recinto. We're at my Aunt Joy's house in Woodbridge, NJ.

What does my family do? It’s evolved over time and every year is different. Here are my favorite memories:

• We used to go to my cousin’s house in Woodbridge, NJ. The adults would toss coins off the balcony and us kids would scramble to catch the loot. I was one of the little ones and usually ended up crying. What do you expect? Some of my cousins are like four+ years older!
• As one of the “little ones” – I’d get tortured. My cousins would put me in a blanket, gather around and hold the edges and bounce me around. One time, my cousin laid on his back and told me to sit on his feet. He catapulted me in the air and I missed the pile of throw pillows. I gave “hit the wall” a literal meaning.
• To entertain the cousins, I’d do this “I’ll sit on a balloon ‘til it pops” thing. It would hurt to pee for a week after, but I loved the attention.
• One time, I couldn’t find my dad. He dressed up as Santa, and I didn’t even recognize him!
• In 2006, my whole family went to Disney! It was AWESOME

This is what I expect this year:

• Christmas Eve we’ll go to Billy’s parent’s house for dinner. (My mom is working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day – she’s a nurse, God bless her!) Afterwards, Billy, his brother, sister and cousin will stay over. We’ll probably watch The Always Sunny in Philadelphia Christmas dvd. My girl friends will come over … it will be great.
• Christmas morning we’ll go to my brother’s house for an authentic Filipino breakfast. I’m talking fried rice, hot dogs, corned beef, etc. (Longanesa if we’re lucky!) Gabby and Sofia, my nieces, will tear apart their presents! If Gabby gets make up, she tries to put it all over herself and everyone else. My dad takes video and pictures. Grandpa “K” – my sister-in-law’s pops will come too!
• For Christmas dinner, Billy and I will go to his parent’s house for seven fishes! Aunt Diane, Uncle George, Uncle Sam, Michael, etc are there too. We eat appetizers, the fishes and complain that we feel sick. Then we have dinner and dessert. We do presents! We play games.
• The day after Christmas, we’ll go to my parents’ house for Christmas all over again. My aunt and uncle (who just came from the Philippines) will be there, so will my cousin, his wife and their babies. We’ll eat all kinds of Filipino food and my mom will overdo it with the prime rib and what not. This year, on the 26^th, we’ll also go see Billy’s cousin who will be in town from Utah. He just got married.
• In January, we’ll have the big annual Meise family Christmas party with Billy’s family. Santa will be there – and so will the 20+ first cousins, their kids and all the aunts and uncles.

Ahhhh, I’m really looking forward to this Christmas!