Surprising My Cousin on His Moving Up Ceremony...

Last week, my cousin Nicole and I traveled to the city to surprise our younger cousin, Godwyn, for his "Moving Up Ceremony". He completed his junior high school, and is moving up to senior high school next school year.

It's amazing how time flies. He was our baby, and now, he's much taller than we are. Well, he'll forever be our baby. We even joked that he's not allowed to use "baby" as an endearment when he's in a relationship in the future, as it's reserved for us. It's fun teasing him as his reactions are too cute. And we're happy that he's pretty open with us. :)

A day before the ceremony, Nicole's father fetched me from our place in his motorcycle. I'm eating lunch in their house and would head to the city from there. We're both very excited to surprise Godwyn and are curious about his reactions.

We got on a bus to the city at around 1:30 in the afternoon. We had to take two buses and one V-hire to get to Godwyn's place. We also dropped by a mall because Nicole wanted to buy a gift for him. I already prepared mine, an acrylic portrait painting I made.

We finally arrived at their place at around 5:30 PM. We pretended to buy something from their store, and when he opened the door... voila!!! It's us! He was so surprised that he immediately hugged and welcomed us. We also gave him our gifts which he really liked. <3

We caught up over dinner. We actually stayed in the dining area for a couple of hours, just talking and having fun before we played a couple of mobile games, freshened up and went to bed to get ready for the big day the next day.

The next morning, my aunt and I had some coffee while the two of them were waiting for breakfast to be ready. They were busy with their phones. hahah I usually just have coffee and some bread for breakfast.

For lunch, my aunt made this delicious dish for us. The three of us are so lucky to have mothers who are really good at cooking! My mom and Nicole's mom also prepared some dishes for us which we shared the night before... and the leftover were just reheated the next day.

In the morning, I dyed my aunt's hair, then after lunch, Nicole worked on her makeup. The ceremony starts at 3, and we have to be there around 2 PM. So, we had enough time to prepare.

We took some photos before the ceremony started. We arrived earlier, so we had the chance to do so. The ceremony started at exactly 3 PM, which I appreciate a lot because "Filipino Time" is kind of my pet peeve. hahaha

Our uncle couldn't come home for the ceremony, so Nicole walked with them to their seats, and I went on stage to receive his certificates and medals with my aunt. Nicole and I also had to update our parents and Godwyn's father with photos and videos. They're all so proud of him, especially his dad. Uncle immediately posts the photos and videos I sent him on social media and we also video-called as they were walking during the entrance. He was teary-eyed. Well, he'll be home next month, so it's all good.

We ate out for dinner after the program... and after my cousin cried out saying goodbye to his classmates and juniors. He's transferring to another school for senior high, so he's especially emotional. We get it though. Nicole and I have transferred schools quite a lot, but it's his first time since kindergarten. <3

After breakfast the next morning, Nicole and I had to head back to the countryside. Godwyn drove us to the V-hire terminal near their place. We couldn't stay longer because we had to work. Nicole had a meeting in the afternoon, and I had classes at night.

Godwyn and my aunt will be visiting as soon as they're done with some stuff they have to do as well. They haven't visited our new place yet because it's quite far and he was busy with school. But we'll surely be spending precious time together here soon, and I can't wait for it.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you on the next one! (^^,)/