Christmas at HOME

Christmas week at home consists of:

1. Late nights of laughing, preparing, family, and food previous nights to Christmas eve
2. Cozy evenings of locking myself in my bedroom, wrapping presents and wrestling Peyton
3. Smelling mom's cooking, and testing everything!!!
4. Last minute Sister Dates shopping for last minute things for Christmas eve
5. Peppermint Mocha Coffee with whipped cream and red and green sprinkles in a colorful mug
6. Sitting in a dim room with a brightly lit Christmas tree with Ashley and talking about colorful things of Christmas
7. Sticking our heads under the Christmas tree, and looking up at the twinkling lights, and imagining to be in the north pole or Narnia.
8. Dance parties with the whole family-single ladies part 2!
9. Guessing what is inside all the wrapped packages under the tree, and hoping the big ones are for you!
10. Peyton being scared of the wrapped packages under the tree.
11. Long dinners at the dinner table, laughing about past Christmases.
12. Christmas movies with ilene and ashley-the Grinch, the Santa Clause, etc.
13. blasting new Christmas music in the morning to dance to as we all get ready
14. Running around Beaufort doing last minute errands, and hoping to run into someone you know so you can say, "Merry Christmas!!!" one more time.
15. Hugs and cuddling on the couch while talking or watching movies.

And on Christmas EVE our festivities begin:

1. Drive around Beaufort at night to look at all the lit homes with Christmas lights and decorations
2. Eating a Christmas meal at 10 pm with the family, and having it last for a couple hours:)
3. Dad reads the story of Jesus' birth and we all pray as a family
4. 12:01 AM Christmas day, we open our presents one at a time and show it off to a video camera
5. After presents, hugs, and kisses, we drag the mattresses, blankets, and pillows out to the living room.
6. The Gamboa family Christmas campout in the living room begins, with Home Alone 1, 2, and 3. (we have forbidden ourselves to watch it any other time during the year.)
7. Christmas day, we spend the day in the living room and play with our new things!

And this year, we have a new edition to our family!!!

Ryan Brandenberger, the new husband, son, and brother, is gonna be joining our exclusive Gamboa family Christmas activities!:) First boy (and person) ever to join us during our family time Christmas:) I get the privilege of spending our first Christmas as a married couple at my house!:) Yay, i'm soooo excited! Christmas is my FAVORITE time of the year!

My mentee and I

my mentee and I decided to bake cookies together this past week. we had such fun together making snickerdoodles! Neither of us had ever baked snickerdoodles, but we tested them on her friends, teachers, and my husband, and we got all positive responses!:) She was beaming with excitement passing them out. it was fun, messy, and full of laughs.

Our weekly meetings have been something I've looked forward to every week! I am very thankful for being matched up with her, and can't wait for the rest of my times with her:)

Lolo

Today Lolo passed away. I only have a few memories with him, but I am so glad for those few that i DO have.

I remember praying for him, as a little girl, praying that he would come to know the Lord.

Lolo came to visit us when I was 6 and stayed for about a month in SC. It was exciting to have a grandpa around.

We continued to pray for our Lolo's salvation.

When I was 10, we went to visit the Philippines and got to see him again. he was so proud of us.

I kept praying for my Lolo's salvation.

We got to see his house, and his pictures of our daddy and his neat jeepney.

When I was 14, we went back to the Philippines and saw him as well. It was neat seeing him smile and to see how similiar my daddy (named after my Lolo) looked to him. That was pretty cool.

I continued to pray until this day for his salvation.

Most of my memories of him was praying for his salvation, and praying for his safety, and protection. My family prayed for him constantly, I prayed for him with Ilene, and even to this day, I prayed for him.

Today, he passed away. I'm praying for my family.

God is in control.