This is a flashback/recollection of how we welcomed and celebrated the arrival of 2014.
Tuesday, 31 Dec 2013. At about 1:30 p.m., aboard our van, my family went to FeLynn's Oriental/Filipino Restaurant in Virginia Beach to have lunch and to pick up our food order, i.e., a tray of "pancit" and rice cakes for our New Year's Eve celebration at home. Our original plan, after lunch, was to bring home the tray of pancit and rice cakes. But since we were half-way to Chesapeake, particularly to our friends Dan and Zeny who invited us for New Year's Eve get-together and early dinner, we decided not to go home. Instead, we drove to Dan and Zeny's place.
There at the Harrisons, we had another get-together, just like last time---about a week ago? We gave them copies of the photos we have had when we had our first get together in a long time last week. But, of course, our reunion would not be complete without food---home-made food which they've prepared for all of us. We had a great time there, I would say. Again, we thanked them for their kind and generous hospitality. We wished them Happy New Year!
At about 6:00 p.m., we had to cut short our get-together there because of our already planned going to church at our parish, St. Paul's Catholic where we had that scheduled 7:00 p.m. Mass and Eucharistic Adoration afterwards.
Opppsss, wait a minute. I forgot something. From the Harrisons, we brought Andrew closer to home, dropped him off at a grocery store where he was to meet one of his friends. He said that they're invited to go to one of their former high school classmates's house not too far from where we live. So, as soon as we dropped off Andrew at Food Lion, we drove to St. Paul's. OMG, we couldn't find a parking spot for our van as soon as we arrived in front of the church building! My wife Freny alerted me and daughter Tintin to just get in the church (Mass has already started then. We were a few minutes late, btw.) and she and sis-in-law Rose would find a parking spot somewhere within the church vicinity. We got reunited in the church eventually. Our parochial vicar, Rev. Fr. Gino, officiated the Mass. After Mass, we stayed put for half an hour, maybe, just to attend the Eucharistic Adoration. Then, we went home. Did prepare for the coming New Year...But, in my case, I went up to my bedroom and did lie down to rest my aching back.
About ten minutes before the clock struck 12 midnight, Freny came up to wake me up. Went back downstairs with a sandwich bag of coins on one hand and my camera on the other. We prepared ourselves, with a glass of sparkling apple cider first, and then we opened that bottle of Korbel Sweet Rose champagne as we headed to the family room, watching New Year's Eve special on TV as the countdown continued. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one...in unison, we shouted with glee: Happy New Year! (I thanked God that we're alive and well, and that we're doing well to welcome 2014!) My camera was working...click here and there...
We were already eating midnight meal when Andrew and his friends Brian and Thomas arrived. We had another toast of champagne in the family room. (See our photos below.) Then we shared the food we prepared and ordered at our table in our formal dining room. Thank God, we had a good time with the family and friends.
Wednesday, 01 Jan 2014. Almost 4:00 a.m., when I went to sleep, even though I was in bed an hour or two after we had that New Year's Eve/Day "party" downstairs. Why that late to bed, you ask? I was too preoccupied importing and uploading , and then sharing our photos to Facebook, can you believe it? Yay, what a day on the first day of New Year 2014! And we didn't rise up from bed not til 2 p.m.!
That's about it, my dear folks and friends! How about you guys? How did you welcome/celebrate the New Year? I'm sure you had fun together, too, with your family and /or friends and relatives, too. That's great!
Well, below are the photos to remind us how we welcomed/celebrated the New Year 2014...Enjoy!
Here's me and my family with the Harrisons in Chesapeake. As always, our sincere gratitude to you, Dan and Zeny, for your generous and gracious hospitality. God bless US always!
Thanks, everyone, for reading/visiting my blog. Happy, healthy, peaceful, and prosperous New Year to all of US! Take care and have a wonderful day/night, my dear folks and friends. May God bless US always!-chris a. quilpa, 01.05.2014
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