Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Christmas Letter 2007


We all hope you've had a great 2007 and are celebrating a warm family Christmas with all your loved ones.

Enjoy our family blog - all the entries were written by the kids and the words in red are links to more blog entries, other websites, photos and videos.

Happy Holidays!

Athena is two-for-two on magazine covers

I'm two-and-a-half years old now and I'm so happy to be on the cover of Working Mom magazine for this month. This will be my second magazine cover, after Baby magazine put me on their cover last year. [Note: Athena was also one of Mega Magazine's 10.5 Women to Watch in 2006.]

I was so lucky this year also because Nivea made me their "spokesbaby" for their Nivea Baby product line, which is interesting considering I can't even talk yet. Dad wrote about it in his blog here. I don't know what all the fuss is about but to me this just means I have as much Nivea baby lotion as I want to use, so that's cool.

I can't say "Nivea" but my vocabulary now includes my name, "Mum," "Bee" (for Bryan), "Ty," "Ate" (Annika is too long) and "Dad." Of course I can also say "Barney" and "Hi 5," my two favorite DVD's.

I also got to be on a Bench billboard this year, together with Mom, Dad and Calypso, the whippet of Tito Jon-jon. Mom even wrote about it in her Inquirer column. She says at this rate, I may never get to enter Assumption.

Oh well, at this point I'm just having a lot of fun learning. Dad took this video of my first sentence, "I know." We watch it often and he is amazed that I can memorize the entire video down to Annika's and my hand actions. I do the same trick with Hi5 videos.

Hope you like my blog!

Merry Christmas!

Annika knows Palau is not Palawan

On March 17, I went to Michigan with my grand- parents and my baby sister then, after a few days I went to Cancun, Mexico with my relatives. In Mexico I went swimming, jet skiing and even sandcastle making on the beach.

Also, Tita Myda entered Anatori and I in this club called Kids Club. It’s really fun there because we had a whipped cream fight, giant chess game and even a giant Connect Four. Then after I went to Mexico, I went to San Francisco to visit my big brother, Bryan.

Then when I flew back to Manila, I watched the Christina Aguilera concert in Fort Bonifacio. Then a few months later after the concert, I watched the Beyonce Experience. It was really fun watching both of them, they were really great. But for me I think… um… uh… Beyonce was better but… Christina Aguilera was good too, though.

Then in November, since I’m a Star Scout, I had camping but since I’m only a Star, I camped in my very own school. It was sort of scary because people say my school is haunted. And also because my clubmates said that they saw something floating then, they saw something walking in the halls then it disappeared. I’m sorry for frightening you all.

After a few days, I went to Palau (not Palawan). When we were on board the boat and ready to set sail, we went to Devilfish City, Ulong Channel, German Channel then to Blue Corner and that’s when I saw a Manta Ray (giant, big and huge manta). Then after Blue Corner, we headed back to German Channel then the last dive was Ulong Channel.


Then on the last day (sob) that was a Friday we went to Jellyfish Lake, which was really cool because the jellyfish don’t sting you. Then after that, we went to Clam City. There are lots and lots of giant clams there. Unfortunately, some are already dead because some people like to eat them people like the Taiwanese people.

I’m in Grade 3 right now almost ending my Grade 3 year though. I have more friends but I still keep my old (not literally) friends. My new friends are Felisa Lu, Andrea Dolendo and Danielle Yupangco. They are really nice to me and I am nice to them, too.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Tyrone dived Anilao, Dumaguete and Malaspasqua

My graduation ceremony from grade 5 to grade 6 [going to Middle School in Beacon] was really awesome because there was a lot of food and sparkling apple juice! The thing I liked most about it was that there was chocolate, banana and mango crepes. The chocolate crepe was really good and as well as the banana, though I never tried the mango one.

CISV [summer camp in Florence, Italy] was fun and very hot! It was only hot because it was in the summer and I was in Italy. I also saw the Tower of Pisa and the other sights in Italy like the Coliseum in Rome and the Fountain of Trevi (the one in the Lizzie McGuire movie).

Dumaguete was really fun, although I didn’t see any sharks, I saw a lot of seahorses and I fed a bunch of fish some bread. I couldn’t see anything underwater when I fed them bread, there was just so much fish!

I also saw lots of schools of fish, mostly jacks though. But the beach here was better than the one in Malapasqua but there was more things to see there during a dive. [See video below of our fish-feeding in Cebu and also in Anilao earlier in the year.]

Malapasqua was also really cool, during the dive I could see the sand below me and it looked like a desert! The sand had lots of waves in it so that’s what made it look like a desert. Not only that but there were also small stingrays there, a lot of them! They would bury their bodies into the sand and when you would go close to them they would swim away to find a new hiding spot. [See our video below of stingrays in Masaplod, Dumaguete.]

My new iMac desktop computer [which I got for my birthday and Christmas] is so awesome! Not to mention it's also so big compared to just a laptop, it’s about 13 x 20.5 in inches! Now I don’t need to close and open to see a window I can see Microsoft Word, Firefox, iTunes, Finder, Yahoo Messenger, System Preferences, etc. all at the same time. In fact, it’s about almost the same size as my Television but just a bit smaller!

MERRY X-MAS!

Bryan graduates and moves on to new challenges

Whoever said growing up was easy never made it past college. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, another curve ball came my way.

In my opinion, life is just like a novel; it has a protagonist, and several other characters, there are various plots and sub-plots and it is also divided into chapters. Last May, I finished another chapter in my life, college. As a freshman, it seemed like an eternity but graduation quickly dissolved into reality.

Over the past four years, I have learned to adapt to a foreign culture and struggle to become independent. I was fortunate enough to have my whole family attend my graduation. These are the few times in life when the MasterCard commercial says it best, "priceless."

The years have provided me with invaluable lessons; lessons that I believe have helped me become a better person. Among the many lessons learned, there were three that stood by me throughout the years.

The first lesson I learned is patience. Patience is a virtue not easily learned. In fact, I am still practicing it everyday. Patience is the foundation of discipline, without it we can easily loose our focus.

The second lesson I learned is sacrifice. Life is filled with trade-offs; should I go to the party or study for my exam? Should I get the green or blue shirt? The outcome of these decisions bears a corresponding consequence. Often times I realized that the decisions that require the most sacrifice are often the most rewarding. Without sacrifice, the good cannot taste great.

Lastly, the most important lesson I learned is responsibility. I was fortunate enough to be given a lot of freedom, however, this freedom was the outcome of the trust my parents had in me. I earned this trust because I took full responsibility to all my actions. This prevented me from compromising the trust in any way, I was responsible enough to make the right decisions.

Naturally, as the college chapter in my life concluded, another chapter began. Last October, I was offered a position in QuinStreet, a marketing firm in San Mateo. This would officially be my first full time job. Entering the workforce is an exciting part of my life. It teaches me the importance of making a difference in not just my life but for others.

Three months later, I find myself writing this blog and reminiscing about this wonderful year. Although my girlfriend, Janine, and I skipped Christmas in the Philippines, I am certain we shall all enjoy the holidays. I wish my family all the best and anxiously look forward to the New Year.

Happy holidays.

Tessa has a winsome year!

“Fame! I’m gonna live forever!” As the song goes, it was a fun, fabulous, famous and fantastic year! Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be either traveling all over the world or performing on national television or walking a Red Carpet in Hollywood! My not-so-simple life has been elevated to official celebrity status.

With multiple colorful parties, glitzy affairs and spectacular launches, I had to check my iPhoto library in my Apple Mac to remember and list the highlights since there have just been so many! My photos begin after the first quarter though since my laptop was stolen in Barcelona during my Flamenco trip to Spain with teacher Ginajane Grey. Good ol’ reliable Dennis had backed up most [but not all] of my files and gifted me with a fully loaded unit when I got home.

Having learned more intensive Flamenco, drank sherry and gotten to know my classmates more closely, the Spanish trip together with a side visit to Lourdes, Portugal was wonderful. I think I prayed so hard to Our Lady of Lourdes that my 2007 was truly blessed and magical. Of course, the trip was even more complete with endless Mango and Zara shopping in every town.

Our annual trip to the States was more outstanding because Bryan graduated college!!! As parents, we feel so overwhelmingly proud and fulfilled. It’s almost as gratifying as childbirth minus all that pain! I was even doubly proud when he handed me his first paycheck as a gift when I visited him later that year on my way to Hollywood.

As a Little Gym (Athena’s play school) mom, I was invited to the world premiere of Enchanted, a Disney movie, at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. I was able to arrange a visit to pick up Bryan in SFO and we flew together to L.A. for the weekend.

Being a Princess of Make- Believe and Costumes, I was in my element and got to meet Hollywood’s A-listers and all the Disney Princesses! Thanks to Ruben Nepales, Inquirer’s Man in Hollywood, I was captured with Patrick Dempsey, Dr. McDreamy himself, and we even had a nice chat! He really is oozing with appeal.

I really enjoyed parading my awesome, voluminous gown by Rajo Laurel complete with wings and crown. Even the costume designer of the movie approached me and complimented my outfit.

After last year’s Velada, my Batch 81 classmates have remained close, so close that a group of us headed to Italy for the canonization of the Assumption founder St. Marie Eugenie. From dollar to euro to dollar, it was quite a year for traveling and shopping and eating!

On the local front, it has been an incredible year, especially when I won Celebrity Duets on GMA. Not for my singing prowess, mind you, but for everything else entertainment can buy! It’s amazing that “Tessa” has become a household name and somehow I have reached all corners of the country and the world thanks to YouTube!

This year is all about living and giving! I feel I have done both as much as is humanly possible. I have added so much colorful excitement and infectious laughter and heartfelt love in the process. As we end the year and celebrate a new one in Discovery Shores in Bora (my third trip to the beautiful island this year), we wish all that we have touched and continue to love more bountiful blessings for an awesome 2008!

Dennis gets to do the finale

Like most years, 2007 can be characterized by the ups and downs that every family goes through.

For this blog, I choose to focus only on the positives - this year, I give thanks that everyone in our family (as can be seen from their narratives above) can count on so many good things in their lives.

For me, it seems to have been a year of settling down into routines - Pilates on T-Th-S, underwater hockey T-Th evenings, swimming, etc. PhilWeb has had a good year and our stock price reflects the market's acknowledgment of that. The team I am building is slowly ratcheting up to full speed, with our internet casinos delivering fantastic returns.

None of which really matters though.

What is essential is how happy and healthy the five people closest to me are. I've tried hard to allocate time to each one. I've probably had the most luck with Tyrone, as we've gone on three scuba diving trips this year - in Anilao, Dumaguete and Malapasqua.

Annika has been a tougher call. I started my new blog, Annika's Birthday, with a post about her birthday, but other than the odd movie or two we've watched together, we haven't really been able to spend a lot of time together. Luckily a big chance came up in early December, when Tita Mary invited Tessa and I to Palau and we took Annika with us. She had a fantastic time, as can be seen from her entry above. I'm looking forward to next year, when she'll be taking scuba lessons as she turns ten, and we can do more diving trips.

I was able to visit Bryan in the U.S. three times this year, which is a record for me. The best trip was probably the shortest, when I flew in for a weekend just to attend his college graduation in May. We also had a fun weekend in Yosemite when I swung by SFO on the way to an internet gambling seminar in Montreal in June and earlier in the year, we spent a weekend in Napa Valley touring the wineries. Bryan is now working for an internet company in SFO, so I'm not looking forward to 2008, when it'll be tougher and tougher to find time for him.

In contrast, Athena and I have had many opportunities to bond. She brings me to work every morning and just watching her grow up has been a highlight of the year for me, even if it's a simple thing like videoing her first sentence: "I know." We also had many fun moments watching Tessa during her Celebrity Duets weekends.

As usual, Tessa seems to have had the best year of all. Even for someone who leads an enchanted life, her 2007 was particularly perfect, what with winning GMA 7's inaugural edition of Celebrity Duets. Perhaps there's something to be said for her selflessness, because it's that charitableness to her spirit that gets her such good karma. And despite the busy year she's had, we still found some time to spend together, with bonding trips to Boracay for our anniversary and our scuba diving trip to Palau.

With all that, it's pretty clear that 2007 has been nothing short of fantastic for us. We hope your year has been marked by mostly positive things too, and if not, that there are still many things to look forward to in 2008 and beyond!

Happy Holidays!