I’m taking a little break from blogging until the end of the year… I really need to spend some time with family right now and just focus on helping my mom in getting ready for her travel to the Philippines. She plans to stay there for about 1 month: two weeks in Bicol, one week in Manila, and another week at my ate Grace’s home in Laguna. It’ll be about seven years in January since she has seen her brother and sister in the Philippines. I’m just really bummed that she couldn’t visit earlier when uncle Jojo was still alive… I’m just really sad about it… but I know that there’s a reason for everything and we should believe that God knows what’s best for everyone.

I’ll be sure to blog on January 1, 2010 for my 2009 recap. My annual recap of what Ryan and I have done for the whole year… but until then, this blog will be pretty quiet.

However, before I leave… I wanted to post up a teaser photo of the Brandon Family that I was able to Photograph last Friday, December 25 :o) More to come… when my blog break is over..

It is definitely the most perfect gift we could have received on our special day. A Bible. It was given to me and Ryan by my uncle Jojo and aunty Merilyn on our wedding day and as much as I cherished it then… more so now…

This evening, I received news that my uncle Jojo, who was my mom’s youngest brother, had passed away of cardiac arrest.

Though Ryan and I work are working on some tasks that needs to be completed… and I was trying my best not to think about the pain that I am feeling of losing my uncle… I had to stop what I was doing because I remembered about the Bible that they had given to us.  I needed to find it… and I did.

If I could speak to him one more time.. I would thank him for the Bible, for the thoughtful messages of support, for the handmade bags he created with his own hands, for the words of sympathy he gave to me about loosing a loved one… and from that message, I know that God will provide for his absence…

Here’s my uncle Jojo singing a song for me and Ryan on our wedding day.

Just a 10 minute photo montage/video recap of some of our locale activities this past year. We are so thankful to God for blessing our locale throughout another year. Praises be unto our Father in heaven!