Happy Birthday Jesus

We are the family that celebrates Christmas as Christ's birth.  We also do the whole Santa thing too.  One way we keep the focus on Christ rather than Santa and presents is to celebrate the holiday as Jesus's birthday.  We get a cake and this year Zoe requested we have party hats too.  We get our cakes made at Happy Cake Company.   They are also delicious and beautiful. 

This year we served it next to the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, which is always a special treat this time of year!

We did a celebration early as N's parents were in town AND N's twin sister Bev and her family were here too.  It was a bit like the Griswolds and a bit like The Christmas Story, except without the leg lamp.

One of the great things about having Bev and her family here, was Micah.  Last time we saw him was at Easter.  Several things have changed.  He has hair, teeth and can walk.  Next time we see him he'll be singing carols and probably doing advanced calculus. 

One thing he loved was Zoe.  Being an only child he doesn't get to see too many people his size.  Even though she outweighs him and is a bit taller, he still thought it was totally fun tackling her.

She wasn't too keen on it.  Anytime he'd come near, she'd yell, "NO, TOO BIG!"  Fortunately she's faster, so she'd run away and he was spared any hitting that might of come out in self-defense of the ole' cousin tackle.

Then her back-ups came.  D and E loved to chase, hug and love on Micah.  That was until present time came.  Then they were all about opening and posing.  Until they opened their gifts from G.G.  A cookbook and an apron.  They immediately channeled their inner Rachael Rays and started planning our meals for the next year and a half.

It looks like we'll be living off gelatin blocks and some french toast.

The best part of the whole thing was sharing the joy of family.  It's rare that we are together in the same place, let alone around any holiday.  Typically it takes a birth to get us all together and usually the mommy in that situation isn't ready to party. 

Thanks Mom and Dad for coming up to the icy north for a visit.  We had a blast.  Next time we're coming to you and we can party it up with some sunshine and temps above freezing!