It's our 8th!!!

The whole family is together here in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China for a vacation, well for the kids and me at least hehehe...while Hubert works during the day. It's the longest time we've been together since Hubert started working here. He would come to the Philippines for a couple of weeks or less every 4-6 months. And we always made sure that each time was well worth it. Same time last year, we had our 7th Wedding Anniversary. We started it with a renewal of vows led by my cousin-priest, Fr. John Anthony, and had our house blessing on that same day. We shared the celebration with our friends and relatives. And then we also celebrated Christmas 2007 together and then he was back to fetch us after Frances' graduation in March. So here we are right now :)

How fast time flies! It's been another year full of blessings and bliss.There are so many things to be thankful for. I know many people find it weird that both Hubert and I have decided to take the road less travelled, in our case choosing not to live together in Suzhou. Every decision we make entails a lot of thinking and consideration...and mostly it's done for everybody's good. It's good to get the best of both worlds at this time though. We get to travel on a vacation and be together, Hubert gets to go home on for a vacation too, and at the same time we get to send the kids in a school in the Philippines where they would learn the basic socialization skills which will aid them to be well-adjusted adults in their time soon. I get to exercise my role being a doting mother to them in school, hehehe...I always put in mind that the kids should go through things I have gone through as a child before because my childhood was so full of fun and Hubert's too! :) And I don't want my kids be deprived of that or worse they would be giving that look on their faces, asking us " Have you seen my childhood?" Familiar with that MJ song? But we also agreed that, if the kids would have been smaller yet, it would have been a different story though. We would have stayed together wherever the head of the family may go. Just like what we did when we decided to reside in Baguio City sometime in 2002. But things are different now, the kids are doing well in school, they are at the age where it's very hard to uproot them from where they stand. Just like a growing plant which you want to try uproot and transfer to another place, they may wither. Anyway, even with the kind of set-up we are in, I can say that we are always happy, thanks to technology ( PC, internet, mobile phones, etc.) we always feel like we're just near each other. It doesn't make neither one of us feel anything less of a wife/husband or mother/father just because of our geographical distance. Contrary to what people say that the wife should be there to serve the husband all the time, what other better way is there for a wife to serve her husband than seeing her taking well good care of the rest of the family, the household well-taken cared of, and the family's finances well-secured?

In the case of Hubert, he always make sure he talks to the kids all the time especially at night and update on each other. We all know this kind of setup is just temporary, and that there will always be a time that the family will be together once again. We just have to make our sacrifices and just invest a lot of trust on each other and most especially on God. All thing's will work out fine as it has been for almost three years now. :)

And now today, as we celebrate our 8th Wedding Anniversary...there might be no relatives and close friends to share our blessings with this day..but there's always the FIVE of us together...yes and I mean five, hehehe, you'll know why :)

Happy 8th Wedding Anniversary My Loves!!!


[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Photos*]

We Just Got Married!!!...again

I couldn't forget the poem Ninoy Aquino wrote for his wife, Cory, that goes ..."I fell in love with the same woman three times." This was immortalize through Jose Mari Chan who made a song out of it. I never really imagined it would happen to both Hubert and me...at least not this year...not on our 7th wedding anniverssary...we planned to have it on our 10th. WE JUST GOT MARRIED...again!!! Just like the song, we could now officially say, we married each other twice, hehehe...

At first it was just a joke after Frances, our daughter, kept on asking unending questions about why she wasn't invited to Mommy and Daddy's wedding seven years ago. Hello? As if she was already there, hehehe. So earlier during the day, Hubert and I left to buy more the ingredients needed for our small salu-salo later in the night, we told Frances to take a nap and be ready to be our flower girl when we get home.

And true enough, she really wore her white and torquiose gown and dozed off in her bean bag while waiting for us to come home...



Hubert and I brought home this little cake to remind the guests that it's not just a house blessing, its our 7th year of marriage too...to Frances and Jeremy's delight!!!






Father John Anthony Mary of the Cross, my Franciscan-friar-cousin , arrived to officiate the mass in our new home. He was supposed to be the one to officiate our wedding mass had not his ordination been moved from Rome to the Philippines and was later postponed to December 2000 so he was not able to make it to our April 2000 wedding. Anyway, we mentioned to him that Frances still thinks we are getting married that afternoon because there was a wedding cake and she was going to be the flower girl, hehehe. Father John, welcomed the idea and said, " Why not? You will say your I do's. Why don't you go up and change into any white outfit." In a flash, Hubert and I went down wearing white upper, far off from what we originally wore...orange polo for Hubert, blue spaghetti and white bolero for me, hehehe...



" I do...I do... I really, really do!!! "

Seriously, it was such a big blessing not only for hubert and me but for the whole family as well. It was such an unforgettable experience for us. Most of all, we love the way it was held solemnly and witnessed only by our families and a few friends. Thank you very much and see you around :)

Lucky Seven!!!

It's been 7 years now since the day we walked down the aisle and exchanged vows at the Redemptorist Church. So far, the good Lord has been so generous with His blessings for our family. As we journeyed through our new lives together, the ride was not smooth-sailing all the time. Sometimes we may have fallen into potholes, but somehow we manage to concert our efforts to patch things up and never left them unsettled. Most of the time, we really enjoyed the wonderful path we walked on that were surrounded with our children's cries and laughter. As we look back, we couldn't help but appreciate God's loving presence manifested in everything that we are enjoying together. Most of all, we also appreciate our families and friends for the support you've shown through the years that have passed and we are looking forward journeying with you in the years to come :)




Our wedding pose...

We're turning 5 today!!!

April 29 ---It's our 5th Wedding Anniversary today!
It's been five years since Hubert and I got married, and as I look back through all these years we've been together as a married couple, I cant' help but look up and thank God for all the blessings He has showered this union with--- good health, great career opportunities for Hubert and me, two smart and adorable angels in the name of Jeremy and Frances Clare. What more can I ask for?

***Our wedding pic ( April 29,2000)***


and to Hubert, this one's for you...