From the Martinez's, with love.

As far back as I can remember, we've celebrated Christmas at my now deceased grandparents' house. Now that they're gone, we're plenty thankful that the house went to one of our own and we still get to gather 'round over at 38 Sta. Maria for our annual Christmas get together. The house now looks different, it has since faced 2 make-overs, but the spirit lives on and we still remember it as the slightly weathered, dark, imposing 3 story house where my mum and her siblings grew up.

When I say I come from a large family, I leave no room for exaggeration. My siblings and I count 6, not counting the partners just yet and my mum comes from a family of 8 children. Now just imagine how loud and rowdy we all get when we manage to squeeze in together at one place. The cousins are now a few years older and facing the real world, so we've spread all-over, making it near impossible to catch everyone all at once, but we've always made it a point to clear up our schedules for Christmas. It is the only time of the year we get to see each other, after all. And for this rambunctious and gregarious group, we need to spend every minute laughing and catching up.

As children, we hadn't yet appreciated the cornyness of themed parties. We thought it was so passe, but our parents made sure we stuck by them and participated in countless of games and variety type shows. As years passed, we grew to love and embrace the sillyness and ridiculousness. Needless to say, this tradition lives on and we still get as competitive as we did back when we were youngins. This year, we had our gathering on Dec. 23. Here are some photos.

































Happy Christmas Martinez Family. Happy Christmas everyone.

POST SCRIPT: Photos will be added later on...