Thursday, December 22, 2011

Our Christmas Traditions- Novenas (Part 3)


So far so good, the Novenas are going smoothly and are being well attended. Always a good sign for the last few as attendance tends to dwindle as the week goes on. We have been having a great time and there is a strong spirit brewing amongst this group.  Always nice!

Also from the comments I have gathered, by Monday we were all feeling the effects of all the glorious food we've been "consuming".  Speaking for myself, my eating has been so out of sorts for the last few days that I have been waking up with piercing headaches. Can we say..."Sugar overload!!!" Needless to say I have regained my composure and taken back my self control as of then. My body is just NOT used to eating like that anymore. (That is a good thing!!)

So here is the recap of the last 3 novenas:

4th Novena (12/19)- Camacho Family

So it was my turn to host, and as always, I never say no to a chance to have a shindig of any size. So I did my best to not disappoint.




The novenas also seem to get more amusing as they go along. Past moments become running jokes throughout the nights and get more out of control. For example, my family and I showed up to the Chavez Novena in our pajamas due to the fact that we went straight there after attending a Xmas movie marathon party (where pajamas were the requested attire) hosted by another friend of ours. We figured it would be fun and we were going to a friends house so what the heck, right! Well of course we got some slack, but all was good, so I thought.

The next night at my Novena...this is what showed up! As soon as I saw the first pajama walk through my door... I knew the joke was on me!


Sandra Chavez had passed the word around the night before to make sure everyone knew to show up in their best pajama get up, and I was soo amused to see how many did. It was so funny, and even the kids showed up in their jammies.  Hey at least everyone got to go home and go straight to bed...Lol!

5th Novena (12/20) Correa Family

We headed out to Burbank the next night over to Tere and Lizette's apartment for the next novena. Part of the fun also includes trying to fit in as many people as possible even in smaller places. It just makes it cozier that way.

Tere and Lizette cooked up a very traditional Colombian spread of the infamous Natilla and Buñuelos and Colombian hot chocolate that is infused with cinnamon. Always a treat!!

 She had this beautiful Nativity scene and village set up and it was hard for the kids to keep their hands off of it. We also had a great raffle, and I was lucky enough to win this really cool plate set. I guessed the right fruit... Kiwi...go figure!!





6th Novena (12/22) The Halaby Family



The Halaby Novena is always one to look forward to. The Halaby's are always soo generous in both their food and gifts (too generous I'd say, but we are soo grateful!!). They are known for having Portos desserts (to die for) and their now famous White Elephant game they started last year. They provide all these awesome gifts, (samples from their beauty supply brokerage business) and share with all of us. We then provide the laughter and comedic process of stealing or keeping the best gifts we can get!!



 Also this year, their mom, Teresita is away in Guatemala for a few months. Teresita, has been the matriarch of sorts and the lead novena reader for many years, so we missed having her here. But technology is so amazing and so readily available that she was able to attend the novena from all those miles away by connecting her through SKYPE!!! (I love Skype) She sentimentally reconnected with her friends, prayed and sang along during the novena. So amazing!





We had been having issues getting through the  songs at the end because we didn't know the words. So Alex and Jehad made song booklets with all the Viñancicos for us to be able to sing along. These booklets will now be used for our future novenas. Thanks guys!!


All in all, we've had some great moments that we'll always remember! And so will our kids!


I truly feel blessed knowing these wonderful people in my life, and to be able to share such a wonderful tradition with them year after year overfills my heart with love and joy....everything that the Christmas season is all about!!


We took a break yesterday, as there was no host for this day, but it served as a chance for people to do the novena at home on their own, to finish up any holiday errands they need to do, and to take a much deserved holiday breather. As much fun as the novenas are, they can catch up to you!

There is technically one more novena left and that will take place tonight at Amparo Correa's house.  The 9th and last Novena is on Christmas Eve, but with everybody having their own family festivities we can't all be together as in the past. We hope that we all do the last novena in one way or another, and if not we will at least say some kind of prayer to honor that last night and Jesus' birth on Christmas day.


Here's to the last couple days of holiday madness and may we look forward to all of our upcoming Christmas festivities!!


From my corner to yours... 
Merry Christmas To All!!

Much love,











Our Christmas Traditions- Novenas (part 2)


So in my last post I shared what a Novena is and the concept behind this family tradition. Today I wanted to share some pictures of the first 3 novenas so you can get a feel for what happens on this daily feast.

We do these with the intention for everyone to show up all of the nights, but its never an obligation as we know that things happen, so attendance can always vary. 


1st Novena- (12/16) Arca/Bustos Family
                                                                                                                                                          
Martha (on the right) is known to be the "class clown" of our group and she sure didn't dissapoint by providing a very "cultural" but highly amusing raffle after all the prayers were said. They also provided our first taste of Bunuelos for the season...Yummmy! AND honestly, the horrendous overeating and food consumption began for all us! We have 9 more days of this to go....OMG help us!!!

                       






















2nd Novena (12/17)- Coronado/Franceschi
                                                                                                                                  

 My mom co-hosted one at her house along with my brother Sergio and his girlfriend, Casandra, who provided a tasty little splash of her Puerto Rican culture by making us "Arroz con Gandules" or "rice and pidgeon peas" to feast on with some chicken wings and other goodies.

Adriana's mom had always been one of our mothers to lead the service, but today she decided to take a shot at it herself. She did a really nice job too!! Thanks Aige!


3rd Novena (12/18) - Chavez Family  

My friend Sandra and her family hosted this one out in Santa Clarita, and Sandra also gave us a good dose of entertainment, good wine and a very beautiful spread for us to enjoy. 


I had mentioned in my last post that these Novenas are done all in Spanish. Most of our kids only speak English or understand some Spanish, but probably not enough yet to fully understand what is being said. However, they are patient enough to sit through the Spanish just to be able to get to their favorite part, where they sing and participate in the only song they can figure out how to sing..."the Ven, Ven, Ven song". This is the song I had mentioned that our memories are based on, and honestly its what our kids (and anybody who joins us) highly remembers the most about our Novenas.  It is the chorus that is sung after each psalm in a long group of "Los Gozos" (rhymes of joy) is read. Its quite catchy...take a listen!


This is what makes the Novenas so worth it for us. To get to see our kids enjoy and participate in something fairly foreign to them, but yet they know its such a part of who they are....Ahh, Can't explain it how cool that is!


So that recaps the first 3 of the Novenas, and tomorrow I will have the next 3 for you all to check out.

Thanks for stopping by!

From my corner to yours...Have a great day everybody!!




Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Our Christmas Traditions- Novenas


Some of the best childhood Christmas memories that I have are those that have to do with the family traditions my brother and I were brought up with since we were little. Being Colombian and having that Latin heritage did not make our Christmas's  necessarily traditional as what you or I would know it today.

Our Holidays looked something like this:

*Our holiday get togethers (including Thanksgiving) consisted of 4-5+ families of  friends we considered to be family and we did all our holidays together.

*Our big night is Christmas Eve, La Noche Buena. Its the culminating night before Jesus is born and gifts were opened at midnight. Christmas day was a day to relax and enjoy our gifts.

*Christmas Eve dinner was a customary Pernil (pork leg) with black beans and rice and salad...Turkey and mash potatoes were nowhere to be found.

buñuelos

*Dessert was not cookies or cake, but natilla and buñuelos (hard corn pudding, and a fried cheese ball). Neither sound appetizing, but there was no holiday without these!!





*Instead of caroling there was Cumbia dancing all night,

*Dinner was usually served around 11pm and that's when someone remembered to say something!

*Our Santa Clause was "El Niño Dios" (Baby Jesus)

*And instead of our "Santa Gift" gift going under the tree, we would wake up with our "Traido de Niño Dios" (what Baby Jesus got us) at the foot of our beds.

Sooo not traditional, but I love remembering all of this!

 Most of the families that we grew up with are still some of the closest and best of friends we have today, and we all have a great time reminiscing about all of these traditions that made our  holidays soo particularly special!
Our Generation

Of course as we have grown up and started families of our own, things have changed. Each family unit has expanded and included their own new cultures/traditions to their family festivities, and in my family's case, for the most part, has turned into the more traditional American Christmas holiday with a little latin thrown in for my boys and our family to experience.

The New Generation
However, my friends and I for the last 4-5 years have tried to keep some of our old childhood Colombian traditions alive for our generation of kids. We have really felt strongly about giving them the same special moments we had as children. One of those traditions we keep dear to our hearts is our Christmas Novenas:

A Christmas Novena is a Catholic prayer service that is started every year on December 16th and goes for 9 days leading upto Christmas Eve. It is a set of daily prayers that follow the story of Mary and Joseph finding their way to the inn before Jesus is born.

(My husband's family is Mexican and they have a similar service called "Posadas" that they were brought up with)

So the tradition we had was to go to a different family friend's home each of those nights for this service. One of our mom's would lead the prayers out of this special little book, there was lots of singing especially the "Ven, Ven, Ven song" (the song our memories are based from), and signing of Villancicos (spanish Christmas songs), we would all take instruments to play, and have some coffee and desserts.


So we have been getting together year after year to do the same, and to hopefully instill some of the same traditions for them to pass on to their kids. We've also added our own twist by sharing a bit more food than just coffee and dessert every night, (more like smorgasbord of treats), and each host has some gift raffles to give
each night for some added fun.

As mom's ourselves, we have taken over leading the prayers too. Its nice to know that we are now inheriting that place our mothers had as heads of this tradition.




Overall, It has gotten to the point where our kids are loving the Novenas have started to expect them as part of their Christmas holiday as well. You'll catch our kids now asking, "When do the novenas start up again?" Music to our ears!



Our Novenas started last Friday, but I thought I'd introduce the idea and would take the next few days to document them and share with you all so you can experience them along with us!

Here's to all our family traditions...from my corner to yours!