Happy Birthday 2013

A birthday party is an event to celebrate the aging process one year at a time up to the point when one ceases to live. 

One birthday party has been celebrated down the centuries for more than 2,000 years now. It is the most expensive and elaborate, and involves more than a billion people all over the world - a percentage of who just happen to be caught up in the festivities but not quite acquainted with the celebrant.

Christmas indeed is the biggest birthday party for a baby who was born for one single reason - to give eternal life to the human race. 

Ever since I became a Christian seven years ago, I have found a new and more profound meaning to the birthday of my King and Savior Jesus. 

There is no birth certificate available to prove that December 25 is the exact date that he was born, but that doesn't matter. It is the chance and honor to celebrate Jesus' coming for our salvation that drives me to spend hours of preparation, emptying out my pocket for gifts and food and making sure that the family is together.

The photos below documented how Jesus' birthday party was for us in the year 2013.

this is the mezzanine floor of our building which serves as our living/dining room. The building has 5 floors and is home for a newly wed couple, a young couple with a baby, and my wife and her loving husband and their daughter + granddaughter. My wife's son lives with his fiance in her parents' home a few minutes drive from here.

I'll leave out the description and names of the dishes that we served. all were home-cooked and baked by each family and western cuisine predominated the table.

the only Thai in the pinoy crowd and she belongs to my lucky son

our guests were friends who didn't have immediate families to connect with for the season and in a sense they were 
'adopted' for the noche buena.

a mysterious hand picking on the cherry tomatoes

dessert table

jp and nok

jj and kukie

gifts waiting to be torn open

that's the family

the most beautiful daughter in the whole world

Christmas was for a "Child" born in the manger and still is for a child in our family.

this precious kid had the fun of her life and didn't hold back her joy and pleasure in appreciating each gift that she received.

even to the point of being emotional and teary

... and how did her granddad take this moment? the cam caught him wiping away a tear - damn! hahaha. yeah, this is what Christmas is all about - sharing tears of joy and happiness. 

Happy birthday Jesus!

p.s. we had tequila, games, singing and a lot more activities which photos i intend to display in a different album.