Feliz Navidad #RealLatinoFamilies #JCPenneyLatino

Santa and my little man.

This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Latina Mom Bloggers and JCPenney.
However, all opinions expressed are my own.

I love this time of year. I love everything about it, the music, the food, the good feelings, and all of the memories that are made. I’m looking forward to some time to spend with my family and enjoy every bit of the holidays.

As a Latina, our family celebrates Navidad on Noche Buena/Christmas Eve. We open presents, stay until midnight and have a blast playing games. My husband grew up celebrating Christmas morning and I’ve embraced the idea of waking up, opening presents, reading from The Scriptures, and spending a wonderful morning together. As a multi-cultural family, we’ve combined both traditions and have created one pretty amazing experience.

Christmas Tea Time!

We have also added some new traditions to this special time of year. We attend some pretty amazing Christmas parties, we take a ride on Santa’s Christmas train, visit our favorite theme park, and have even made room on our shelf for this little guy.

Cantinflas the Elf!

Cantinflas, the Elf, has joined our family, and the kids look forward to his mischief every single day.

If you would like to know more about how Latino families celebrate the holidays, check out JCPenney #RealLatinoFamily video series. In the video below, Anthony, shares about his family traditions. Anthony is from Guatemala and also celebrates el Dia De Los Reyes, or Kings’ Day. We’ve never celebrated Kings’ Day, but I would really like to.

A Holiday Tradition: Nutcracker Ballet in Southern California

Credit: Los Angeles Ballet

My daughter has danced since she was two years old, and she has performed in a few performances of the Nutcracker. We have also watched professional performances, and it has become a Christmas tradition. If you’re looking to catch a show this weekend with your family, here are a list of performances in Southern California. Enjoy!!

Los Angeles Ballet’s Nutcracker – Royce Hall , UCLA – December 21st and 22nd and Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center – December 28th and 29th
Festival Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker – Irvine Barclay Theatre – December 18th-24th
San Diego Ballet’s Nutcracker – December 20th and 21st
Anaheim Ballet’s The Nutcracker – The Grove – December 21st
Laguna Dance Theater – McKinney Theatre – Saddleback College- December 19th to December 22nd
Long Beach Ballet Theater – Long Beach Terrace Theater – December 21st and 22nd
Maple Youth Ballet – Northwood Performing Arts Center- December 21st and 22nd
Pasadena Dance Theatre’s The Nutcracker – San Gabriel Mission Theater – December 21st and 22nd

Despicable Me 2 in DVD

Disclosure: This is not a compensated post. A copy was provided for review purposes.

Minions Rule! We fell in love with the minions when we watched the movie last summer. I knew then that I had to own the movie. I have to be honest, we watched a whole heck of a lot of movies this summer, and Despicable Me 2 was the best one we watched. It’s funny, clever, and has a great storyline.

I think we all laughed every other minute. Despicable Me 2 is super funny. I also love that the girls in the movie are strong and independent characters. We need more of these types of characters! I think I loved the sequel more than then first one. It’s that good. It’s like the Godfather of animation. The sequel is even better than the first!

We have the Blue-ray + DVD + Digital copy set. It is fantastic. The DVD set comes with:

Three All-New Mini-Movies Starring the Minions

– Puppy
– Panic in the Mailroom
– Training Wheels
Plus so much more.

Despicable Me 2 is available at major retailers nationwide.