Selena Gomez: Being with family is greatest joy

Selena Gomez can’t wait to spend time with her family over the holidays.

The 20-year-old singer-and-actress is constantly on the go.

Selena admits that her busy schedule prevents her from hanging out with her brood as often as she’d like to.

"Honestly we just love being able to just be together as a family," she told MTV News at the eighth Annual UNICEF Snowflake Ball Monday.

"Everybody travels, my grandfather travels, I travel. I'm always out. So just being together, telling stories, cooking, eating a lot, that's usually what we do around the holidays."

Selena has been involved with UNICEF for half a decade and is the charity’s Goodwill Ambassador.

The star treasures her work with the foundation.

"Well I've been working with UNICEF for the past five years now. They're an organisation that's close to my heart,” Selena said.

“I think, for me, I started with Disney Channel and my show [The Wizards of Waverly Place] had a lot of younger fans. When I see the fans and we have live audience tapings and I see some of them maybe being sick, they're the reason why I'm here. If I'm able to do anything to give back to the families or the kids that help me every single day, kids hold a special place in my heart for that reason."

The event raised $2.5 million to assist mother and children in developing countries.