Christmas in the Philippines this year will be a first for United States (US) Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson, who’s quite excited to welcome her daughters in the country to spend the festivities with them.

US Ambassador to Manila MaryKay Carlson stands beside the “Alliance Tree” in her residence. (Screenshot from Amb. Carlson’s Twitter)

This would be the US ambassador’s first Christmas in the country since assuming her post.

“And we are so excited that both of our daughters will be home with us here in the Philippines this holiday,” she said in a video posted on her official Twitter page.

Carlson shared in an earlier tweet that their “oldest daughter has arrived to experience the holiday festivities with us in the Philippines.”

“Excited to show her around this wonderful country,” she wrote, as she also posted a photo with her daughter in a mall.

It seems that the US envoy has always been big on family gatherings during the holidays as she shared the fondest memories she had growing up and starting her own family.

US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson (left) poses for a photo with her daughter (center) who arrived in the Philippines for the Christmas holiday. (Photo from Amb. Carlson via Twitter)

“It was all about being with mom and dad and grandparents and just being with family. And then later, as we got older, teenagers playing games, watching a lot of US football on television. It’s just hanging out, being together,” she said.

In fact, her favorite Christmas song is “I’ll be Home for Christmas” because it is “really meaningful” to her.

Carlson also shared her excitement “to be part of the festivities that lasts from the first of September, some people say, through until Valentine’s Day” as Filipinos are known to have the longest celebration of Christmas in the world.

She likewise recalled her experience in the renowned Dapitan flea market where she brought the parols that now hang in what she calls the “Alliance Tree.”

Carlson described it as “a great mixture of our friends, partners, and allied-US flags and Philippine parols.”

She even shared that her favorite Christmas tree ornament is the “Barong Santa.”

#parols

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