Christmas cooking

One of the things that makes Venezuela special during Christmas is the food!! I am trying to start our own Owens tradition with a little taste from my home and Chris's childhood.


This is a very traditional Venezuelan Christmas dish called "Pernil," which is the pork's thigh, also known as ham. Chris loves pernil sandwich!









These are mini ham-filled croissants, a VERY simplified version of our famous "pan de jamón." They take less than 20 min to make and turn out very tasty!






These cookies, also known as "pasta seca," aren't traditional christmas cookies, but I just love them! I made a healthier version than what I'm used to eating and they were yummy!






These sugar christmas cookies are a little taste from Chris's childhood. The fun part is decorating them. Maybe next year Nícolas can help me decorate them!

Nícolas and her little cousin!

Elba Marie, my sister, and her husband came to Texas to spend a few days with us. Nícolas was very excited to play with her cousin!!

You can view more pictures of the kids in our christmas album.

There were some presents waiting for Elba Marie under the tree and she loved them all!!!

Here's a video clip of Elba Marie taking Nícolas out for a ride in his car!

Pic of the week

Mami!! Let's go!!

More presents under the tree!

When you have such an active little boy like Nícolas, "christmas morning" is an all day event!! He was SO excited unwrapping gifts, running all over the place, playing with the wrapping paper (and eventually the toys!), that he did not take a nap until 4pm!! Chris, my brother, and I were so worn out that we crashed for a siesta too...Well, mine only lasted about 22 min. That's all it took Nícolas to get recharged!!

The first present he opened was from Grandmomma and Granddaddy! Nícolas and uncle Rubén had a little game going on! Very funny!!

Here's Nícolas opening the rest of the gifts!

Nícolas and I thank daddy and everyone by blowing some kisses!

Santa and el Niño Jesús are here!

Santa and el Niño Jesús decided to work together in bringing presents! Chris took a video of all the gifts. They conveniently placed them right under Nícolas's little tree!

As soon as Nícolas woke up, I took him downstairs to take a look at all the presents that Santa and el Niño Jesús brought him. Chris was so excited to see his reaction. We knew exactly which one was the first one he would run to!

He also got a little computer and a golf club set.

...and a race track!!

Christmas Eve Sneak Peek

Nícolas got a sneak peek at opening presents on Christmas eve!

You can see him opening a gift from uncle Ryan and Aunt Kelly.