Christmas Letter 2009

As we end the year 2009, our entire family has just arrived in Australia, where all of us are together for only the third time this year. That's the sort of year it's been for all of us. We look back and it seems to be a blur of events - lots of travel, lots of work, lots of things to do, but hardly ever completely together. So we are all looking forward to going around Oz, where we will be celebrating Christmas and New Year all together.

Here's a brief recap of how 2009 has been for each of us.

Kuya B
Our eldest, Bryan, has been in Singapore now for more than a year, working for Societe Generale. Dennis and Tessa had the chance to see him there once each, but Tyrone outdid both of us with two visits. He and cousin Alexi flew over during the summer, and then in December, Ty accompanied Tessa to support Bryan as he completed the Singapore 42K marathon. With a 42K marathon ticked off his list, Bryan has had a good year.

2010 figures to be even better for Bryan, as he starts the year with new responsibilities at SG and a move to a better apartment in Singapore. Dennis and Tessa are already wondering if the new flat will be the party place for all the twentysomethings in the Lion City.

Ty
Tyrone got his passport stamped a few times this year. Aside from his two trips to Singapore, his Beacon Grade 8 class went on a trip to China. The rest of his year is probably a blur of Dota and other computer games, as our fourteen-year-old seems to have focused on that and just good ol' teenage fun with his cousins.

This is a picture of Ty and all of us in Bohol, one of the few times we were all together this year. Combing through all the year's photos, we realize that Ty hardly ever has a solo shot. His sister Annika says that he's an "emo," which we looked up on Wikipedia as someone "particularly emotional, sensitive, shy, introverted, or angst-ridden." Hmmm. This is deja vu, as we seem to have gone through this ten years ago with Bryan! We're confident that 2010 will be a good one for Tyrone though, as he moves to high school, Grade 9 at the new Beacon Academy in Mamplasan.

Annika
This year was Annika's CISV year, as she accompanied other 11-year-olds to their summer camp in France. After that month away from home, she has become more and more outgoing, and recently joined a softball team. Between her ongoing CISV activities, her softball games and her sleepovers with her cousins, it's difficult to find quality time with our growing little girl, but Dennis and Tessa both like it that she never fails to leave for school without popping in to our bedroom to give us goodbye kisses.

It's been an activity-filled year for Annika, with trips to China with her lola and a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland with Athena as well. We both know that 2010 will be even more busy for her, as she enters Grade 6 at the Assumption.

Athens
It must be great when the highlight of your year is that you get a photo with Minnie Mouse. But 2009 has been more than that to Athena. Our four-year-old started kindergarten at the Assumption this year, looking great in her red plaid skirt. Like her siblings, she has a full schedule, with her own playmates and classmates. She's learning so many things every day, so it's been amazing to watch her grow up this year.

Dennis
For Dennis, the highlight of the year was our 15th Wedding Anniversary, which we celebrated at the Manila Ocean Park. This year there were few moments to just kick back and do nothing, as work has been very full as PhilWeb continues to expand. As a result, golf had to go as there are no longer any four-hour breaks in his schedule. On the good side, he has been able to keep up his Pilates and underwater hockey games, which allow him to de-stress.

Dennis is looking forward to 2010, having recently moved to new offices at Southgate Towers in Magallanes. The new digs have a new energy to it, not to mention a great sunset view every day.

Tessa
Tessa's year, as always, has been a whirlwind, with such diverse activities as scuba diving in Tubbataha with Tita Mary on the Oceana Maria Scuba to traipsing through Thailand with Tim Yap and a bevy of beauties to filming her QTV program, House Life, and guest judging on GMA's Celebrity Duets. Of course, also high on her list were her various charities, especially the Red Cross, for which she did a fabulous fundraiser starring designer Dennis Lustico.

Despite all the demands of her varied social calendar, Tessa did find a lot more time for the kids this year, taking them on various trips to Boracay, Camsur and even the brand new Misibis Bay Resort off Legaspi City. Her personal highlight for the year though is finishing the Ironman 70.3 Triathlon in Camsur, which entailed doing a 1.9k swim, 90k bike and 21k run in under eight hours. She finished with just minutes to spare and still garnered third place in her age category. Dennis says it is scary to think what she will do to top that in 2010.

Happy Holidays to all!

Christmas Letter 2008! [Oops, It's January. Sorry this is late!]

OK, we know it's already 2009, but we can't let go of 2008 without giving some thanks for the truly incredible year our family has had. And it truly was a filled and blessed year for us, which is also our way of explaining why this blog update is so late.

The overriding theme of the entire 2008 for our family is one of bonding. Throughout the many months, despite the pressures of work, social events or school (as the cases may be), we seem to have found time to be with one another, whether on the Valdes side clowning around in our Santa hats or in more formal gear on the Prieto side.

On our own too, we were lucky to carve out trips for ourselves, starting with Easter in Oz, where Ty, Annika and Dennis took surfing lessons and the rest just enjoyed the brilliant sunshine. It's the first time Tessa and Dennis have gone to Australia and not hit a golf ball even once.

But as the kids grow up (too fast!), we find that hanging out with them is far more rewarding. Besides, isn't the beach just like one big sand trap? It's amazing how much more we seem to interact with one another when a half day for a round of golf isn't part of the plan.

We also had many chances to bond in smaller subsets. Annika turned ten and had a major dance party, thanks to Mommy's planning and execution. Tessa needs very little excuse to throw a party and Daddy has learned that the best thing to do when this happens is to just stay out of the planning.

Tyrone and Dennis spent a week scuba diving in Coron, Palawan, during their annual father-son trip. Coron is still fairly undeveloped, where the term resort doesn't imply air conditioning or massages on the beach, i.e., Mommy may not like it. But diving inside a Japanese warship is an adventure for a 12-year-old boy whose major complaint was that in between dives, he couldn't log on to the web.

Perhaps the one thread that kept the bonding going throughout the year though, was Tessa's quest to finish the New York Marathon in November. A 42K run demands a year of training and as part of the run-up, she convinced Dennis and his brother, Robin, to join the O3 Triathlon with her in August. As Tessa only needed to do the 30K run, Dennis would start the 4K swim and then Robin would do the 120K bike. The big joke, of course, was that if Dennis didn't complete the swim, what would happen? With a lot of hard work, our team ended up third among the relay teams in the event, so we got our Olympic medal-biting moment in.

By November, Tessa was fully prepped and finished her first marathon in 5:27. OK, it's not as fast as Oprah, but then again the Sea Princess wasn't gunning for any records. Our family celebrity did make it to the front page, not of the Inquirer, but oddly enough of the rival Manila Standard Today. Tessa is now struggling with whether to continue her running career or add it to her been-there-done-that checklist and move on.

Another fun bonding moment was when the Valdes Family battled the Aguilar Family on Family Feud in late November. Beauty queen Carlene and her family got to 299-0, a point shy of winning, but we regrouped to win the prize for the day despite some memorable lapses. (Q: Anong pagkain ang mabaho? A: Tae!) The Valdeses quickly donated our win to the budget for the our parents 50th wedding anniversary on December 27.

Jess and Cynthia's golden day included a tango performance by the three Valdes boys and their better halves. Over a hundred people showed up at the Forbes Park Pavilion, which none of the three boys had imagined possible, given the RSVP's. (Mental note: your parents are popular and people will go to their parties!) It was a great chance to reconnect with so many relatives and friends that we haven't seen over the years, from our Bacolod days even!

We capped off the year with a complete family trip to Japan, sans yaya Juvy and including Jeanine Buenaventura, Bryan's girlfriend of three years. (His very well written contribution to this blog is on the next page.) It's amazing to see how huge the twenty-year gap is between our eldest and youngest children. But as we traveled around by shinkansen and moved from hotel to hotel, Tessa and Dennis are also very proud of what each of their kids is growing up into, whether it is one taking his first steps in the business world or one making her first forays in her childhood or two at all the different stages in between.

With all of us having had such a wonderful 2008, we can only hope that you, too, had a great year and that 2009 brings more of the same for all of us. Happy New Year!

Bryan moves to Singapore

If you asked me where I thought I would be 6 months ago I would have never thought half a world away in the small country of Singapore.

It all began earlier in the year while I was still working in the US. This was fine for the time being until unforeseen budget cuts caused me exit the marketing firm. I had mixed emotions about leaving but overall I had a positive attitude, especially because I didn’t see myself staying with the company for long. Thus began the long tedious process of job hunting. I searched far and wide, covering all job websites and screening every placement agency I could find. After a month of searching, an interesting offer came up. A company was looking for a management intern to work with them for a period of 6 months. The only drawback was that it was all the way in Singapore. I now had to make a critical decision that would drastically change my lifestyle…

I ran through every possible scenario in my head. I weighed out the pros and cons, imagined what life would be like, and placed dozens of calls to my parents asking for their input. All these helped my decision in one way or another but at the end of the day, the decision was mine. I realized that in 5 years, I would (hope, one can never tell the future) be in a much better position than if I stayed. I decided to take the leap and migrate back to Asia.

The most difficult part about moving is not the change, but saying goodbye to the life I loved. My friends and way of life would have to take a back seat for my career. It was also quite difficult because I wouldn’t be with Jeanine for our 3-year anniversary. Even though the company gave me enough time, that faithful day when I would begin was fast approaching.

Singapore was completely new to me. I had only been to the country once before, but that was years ago and only for a few days. My Dad's friend, Vickie Martone, helped me settle into my new place. It was a room in a small shop house in the center of town, quite the shift from living in a house but something new for me. The morning rush was a new concept for me (I used to drive myself to work), crowded subways and sidewalks filled with people brought a new thrill.

After a few months, I eventually picked up the pace and adjusted quite well. I adapted into the culture and only use the dreaded “Sing-lish” if necessary (if I’m really hungry and the person can’t understand a word I’m saying – this constitutes as a necessity).

The job itself is quite rewarding, I am constantly learning and trying to keep up the pace. It was particularly good because the financial crisis provided me with an excellent method of learning about the industry. Although it’s still too soon to tell, I don’t mind working in the financial sector. The beauty with this experience is that I get to learn about the different businesses of the bank. After the 6-month period, the bank offered to extend my contract for another year. I was surprised because I didn’t think I would be staying longer and yet I found myself wanting more (especially because the price was right).

My family decided to go to Japan for the New Year. I was very excited because I haven’t been back in 10 years and this time we would be traveling with Jeanine and the whole family, including Athena! We made sure to pack light because we would be covering 4 cities in 8 days. It was very cold but Mom bought us all the essential clothing to not only keep us warm but fashionable as well.

Time does fly, sooner or later I’ll be writing a new blog with the experiences of 2009! See you then…

Happy New Year from Santa

Santa got Annika's letter and decided that I might want to keep it.

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!

Christmas Letter 2006

Merry Christmas to all!

Each of us Valdeses has written up our year, blog-style with added pictures, links and videos. It's a great way to explore what we've all gone through in 2006.

We've also loaded up our previous Christmas letters so you can see how this annual process has evolved.

Enjoy!

Bryan is now legal

It’s about that time of year when we all sit down and start to ponder the question, "Has it been a year already?" Well, the bright lights, colorful decorations and going over the credit limit dictate that Christmas is all around us.

During the course of the summer, my family was kind enough to pay me a visit in the US. Our vacation began in Michigan, visiting the Prieto’s for a couple of weeks.

After Lansing, we flew to Las Vegas. Quite frankly, of all the destinations, I enjoyed Sin City the most. I was amazed how the hotels lit the Vegas strip. These casinos spend billions each year competing for tourists. I guess money really does make Vegas go round.

The last stop of our trip was a visit to Disneyland in Anaheim. This part of the trip was focused mainly on the children. I came to conclusion that I had officially outgrown Disneyland.

However, the most memorable event of the year would be my coming of legal age. Turning 21 is a milestone for everyone.

I was fortunate enough to have a celebration in The Fort prior to my return to the United States.

Being legal means that excuses are no longer acceptable responses to authorities. We can no longer use ignorance as our last saving grace. It also means that Mom's and Dad's expense accounts are no longer smiling in your direction. There comes a point in everyone’s life where the nest is no longer the “cool” place to hang out.

I guess you could say being legal has its perks as well as countless responsibilities.

It will also be during this period of my life that I will hopefully graduate college, and with any luck, find a job. Suddenly, my priorities change, short-term goals seem real difficult to achieve and long-term goals almost impossible to reach. All I can say to those who will be experiencing this in the near future: welcome to reality kid, mom and dad never took the easy way out, why should you?

It is with anticipation and curiosity that I look forward to the New Year and future experiences that can help pave the yellow brick road to success.