Hey, a third of the year is almost over and this is my first post for the year!

With much enthusiasm, I am excited to welcome the great things that will come this year 2016.

We opened the new year at home this year, and the family table had food that I prepared. We made noise from the pots as we watched the Dubai fireworks streaming from the internet.

The town is being painted red ahead of February 14 when people celebrate Valentine's Day.

Our Big Boy saying "I am a kuya!" to our Little Precious One  in my tummy (29 weeks at this time).

In Dubai, there's a thousand and one ways that malls and shops highlight the event, such as the floating hearts of red roses in our background above.

After more than a month, my blog welcomes this first post for 2012 -- my traditional journal for our Christmas 2011 and New Year 2012 celebration (ooops as late it may be).

The Nativity by the altar, is a scene  I always long for in the desert. Rarely is this seen outside the Church and at home.

Ours was highlighted by attending the Christmas midnight mass at Saint Mary's Dubai. “Christmas brings the message of hope, love and joy”, came the Priest’s sermon. It was our first midnight mass yet in the sandpit, as we decided not to host friends over Christmas eve which we had been doing over the years. It was the most low profile Christmas eve we had – just the three of us plus Little Precious One in my tummy, but having attended the midnight mass well over makes up for it and is the most fulfilling.

To show how near we were to the actual Church altar.

The altar for the night with the mosque at the background. Christmas is one of around ten masses we attend all throughout the year, we came not to know that at this day, the celebration gets officiated outside.

Our family Christmas meals were home cooked – grilled turkey (my other first), paella and buko salad. And our Christmas tree saw its third year with us, with a big Christmas gift box beside after the Gremlin slept.

For Christmas gifts, Husband and I made a pact of not surprising each other with any gift – big nor small and instead pooled what we have to surprise our Gremlin with a big boy’s drumset. Yet the Husband violated the pact and handed me a necklace-earring gift set, with an alibi that he acquired it with his flights miles points, no cash outlay. I shed little tears of course accusing him unfair =)

The Christmas tree and its ornaments on their 3rd year with us, with a big present beside it. But here the  Gremlin was more excited to guess what was inside the smaller gift addressed as his.

Yes, he was too happy to see it's the same airplane book he was eye-ing at Kinokoniya bookstore. Anything  of airplanes and make the Gremlin really happy.

And the big thing inside the big box is a big boy's drumset.

Then came the new year. With much zest, we welcomed the year 2012 as we --
-       Collected as much round fruits, a Chinese belief adopted by Filipinos
-       Had friends joining us on the 30th Dec, 31st Dec and on the first day of the year
-       Had crispy pata, sisig, pansit Malabon, spaghetti, siomai, ube halaya, ice cream, cake -- all outsourced, we bought or brought by friends.
-       Midnight was at Dubai Festival Center for the fireworks where we assumed the least traffic – and true of course. Our previous Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab destinations were a no-no for preggy-me who needs to troop the toilet a lot and cant withstand a two-hour ant-paced traffic.

It was a great start indeed =)