In honor of my Auntie Rose I am staying up until 3 in the morning to write this blog post, which so happens to be exactly the time that me, my husband, and my 4 kids crash landed at her home.
We decided to drive to Reno and see my extended family before going on to Utah and then Las Vegas. My mom called and I told her about our change in plans, which resulted in her practically hanging up on me so she could call her sisters. And within 2 minutes my Auntie Rose called me and voile, we had sleeping accommodations.
Staying with my mother's family (all of her siblings, that's 8 of them, live in Reno) brought back a ton of fun memories. And I have decided everyone should really have a Filipino in their family.
If Filipinos ran the World...
*There would never be anyone without a home. Filipinos very warmly open up there homes to anyone. I mean literally. I cannot count how many times my parents have had some sort of refugee of a teenager, single mother, or out of work person staying in their home (none related to us at all).
My Auntie Rose would not even hear about us staying somewhere else even though we didn't arrive until the wee early morning hours and she wakes up at 4 am to go to work. She waited up most of the night for us to arrive. We ended up staying at her house for 2 nights. It was really nice, especially after being in a hotel for so long. Ken woke-up earlier then me and was working downstairs but he told me, "I just kept thinking this must be what a house feels like when your kids are all grown-up!" He really liked it.
* No one would ever go hungry. Not EVER!
1st--they cook a TON, just huge amounts of food. 2nd-- Filipinos will tell you to go get a plate of food over and over and over again. Ken has learned it is just easier to accept. My Inang (grandma) is a formidable woman:-) 3rd-- They will just walk by and drop a plate of food in your lap. 4th-- It's totally delicious!!! My Uncle Chicho made us burritos and they were sooooo good. 5th-- They will make your favorites foods. I barely ever get a chance to visit them, it's always unplanned and short, and still when I do my Aunt's always make something they know I will love, like Eggplant or Tilapia.
* The world would be sooooo much happier. My Aunts are totally hilarious! They tell jokes, dance, play bingo, sing karaoke. It's just a huge, fun party whenever they get together. It doesn't matter that there are problems or serious things happening. Filipinos always have a good time and they laugh alot!
* All the Children in the World would be Cherished! My mom and her siblings work soooooo very hard to spoil their children. They act like it is their privilege to be able to give things to their children and help them out to have a better life then they ever had, even if that means working 2 exhausting shifts back to back.
They want their children to be happy and are extremely close to them. There is nothing they wouldn't sacrifice for their babies (which that is how most of my aunts refer to their children, even though they are graduating from college:-)! And it's not just their children they spoil... My boys love it because every time we visit Reno they end up with $80 and piece, my family can't help but slip them $20 bills! BTW- they used to slip me the $20 when I was younger too, it was awesome:-)
There is so much more I could say, but I am really exhausted. It's just nice to be able to spend time with family and feel so much love. After we slept in, we went to the Circus Circus Buffet that my Auntie Rose manages. We also stopped by my Grandma (on my dad's side) home. And this night my mom's family all got together and my kids loved swimming with all of my cousins. My cousins were extremely nice to my kids. The older boys let Darin and Nathan wrestle with them. And the older girls swam around with Rose.
BTW- Rose loves Auntie Rose! When we were at Circus Circus at first she was shy but then she wanted to go around with Auntie Rose and leave us like she was big girl.
And also, with the whole throwing up thing with Ginger and having to rearrange everything we lost the camera in our car for a few days so I have no pictures of my family. It was so sad.
2 comments:
It always amazes me the warm welcome our family recieves each time we visit Stephanies extended family. They always go so out of their way to draw us in and make a part of their family and life. It was so nice to arrive at your Aunt Rose's house and spend 2 nights there. It was a much needed relaxing time.
What a great post! I think the same could be same for any close family too - I love our family in the south (North Carolina) because it's almost exactly like you described - no one would dream of a hotel (it's offensive!) and you never go hungry, the kids are instantly loved etc. Gotta love big families!! :)
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