Yay! I made it to Part 2! This is my attempt to catch up on all the holiday festivities. I started with the Sandiego Christmas Eve and now I’m skipping ahead to New Year’s Eve with the Tamanio Family. This is one NYE that I will always remember…
This is the 2nd year where the Tamanios celebrated NYE at my house. We party hard up in herr – dranks, photo booth, loud music and a dance floor in the basement complete with disco lights and a balloon drop, and the biggest sleep-over party of the year. It’s a big production, but nothing beats dancing the night away and passing out in your own bed to kick off the new year!
But wait. Something happened on the morning of NYE 2013 that I’ll never forget. My husband received a phone call with the news that his beloved grandmother Inay passed away in the Philippines. Oh no.
It broke my heart to see my husband so grief-stricken. I’m terribly awkward among those who are grieving. My heart gets so heavy that I cannot find the words that could possibly be of any comfort and I end up saying the wrong things.
I vaguely remember meeting her when she came to visit the States, and I couldn’t really communicate with her because I don’t speak Tagalog. But I do know this – she lived for 95 amazing years. She had 8 children, 23 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren including A&Z. Of all her 23 grandchildren, Jeffrey was the favorite. (But shh! Don’t tell the other 22 grandkids! LOL) I know that she was the matriarch that produced such a happy, loving, and supportive family and she will be greatly missed.
So that’s how our NYE began. I anticipated that the night was going to sad and emotional for everyone. Instead, it turned out to be a celebration of her life. We said a prayer and found comfort knowing that she is now resting with the Lord and reunited with her husband. We rang in the new year with her watching over us and continued on with the festivities. There was still a bittersweet undertone to the party, but we celebrated nonetheless.
I set up a photo booth along with my 2014 New Year’s props (I’ll post more on that later). This year’s theme was “twinning” and Arielle was my twin for the evening. Here’s a butt load of photos from my shoot. I had a hard time picking my favorites, so I narrowed it down to the ones that make me smile:
Cheers to 2014! Rest in peace, Inay. You will be missed.
xoxo // gracielle.
Oh Gracielle, I am so sorry. It sounds like she had a wonderful life. But I know how difficult and sad it must have been to get that news. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.
Your New Year’s Party looks like it was a lot of fun! And I love the photo booth ideas — those pictures are so cute!
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I’m so sorry for you and your husbands loss. A grandmother is so special and it’s one of the hardest ones. I’m glad you were able to make your wonderful party a celebration of her life.
I do have to say though that I would love to have disco lights and a balloon drop. And the last picture…I love the look on their faces! 🙂
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I’m so sorry about your husband’s grandmother! It looks like she was had a long life- and I hope it was happy. The photo booth idea is so awesome!!
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I’m so sorry about the loss of your husband’s grandma – grandparents are so very special!! I love the fact that y’all turned the NYE party into a celebration to honor her!!
And – that party sounds amazing. Love the “twins” theme!!! So many fun photos! I’m still cracking up at the one with the little cuties holding beer bottles!!
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Sorry to hear about your loss Gracielle. I can only imagine the bittersweet feeling of celebrating the new year. But looks like you really had a great party too! Wish you all the best! 🙂
:- ( What a bittersweet new year’s. So sorry for loss, but I’m sure you and your family’s sweet memories of her will last forever. Happy New Year.
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I’m so sorry for your family’s loss. What an amazing life to celebrate!
Your photo booth looks like so much fun! I’d definitely love to attend one of your parties. 🙂
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So sorry to hear of your husband’s grandmother passing. I’m glad your family was able to turn New Year’s Eve into a celebration of her life. I love all the photo booth pictures… and the props are great!!
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I’m so sorry to hear about your loss. One of my grandmothers and both my husband’s grandmothers lived until they were in their 90s too (one of them is still going strong in her mid-nineties!). Talk about matriarchs, and like you said, they birth huge families to carry on the legacy.
I also wanted to say I loved your photo booth ideas! Especially the “real” mustaches lol!
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wow, that looks like so much fun! and 95 years is a wonderful, long beautiful life!
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It was bittersweet – the family was sad to see her go, but knew that she had a long, beautiful life and left behind an incredible legacy. They are all in the Philippines now preparing for her funeral.