Welcome, Christmas!

The tables are already set.

The smell of roast pork is intoxicating.

The gifts are wrapped and tagged.

The creme de vie is already flowing.

The girls made a run to Porto's Bakery this morning for some REAL CUBAN BREAD (Thank you, God!), croquetas, pastelitos and Cuban tamales.

We are ready for Nochebuena.

Everyone is working hard around here, but they seem to be happier. There's already a lot of laughter in spite of the stress of preparing to host 24 noisy, hungry Cubans.

I hope your Christmas is wonderful, too.

So, from my big, fat, Cuban family to yours: Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad!

Let the celebrations begin!