Christmas - H & B's Biggest Highlight

So... Kyle and Owen got to be in the Christmas Eve Nativity Pageant even though we were just visitors (very inclusive church!). They chose to be angels and their cousin Sadie chose to be a sheep (toddler gender-bending! despite what anyone else might have thought, we were beyond thrilled with this!!!). Our two little angels absolutely stole the show from the second that "the multitude of heavenly angels" entered the stage. They were about as gosh darn cute as could possibly be, and every person in the place was ooohing and aaahing over the two of them. Then came a moment that I quite possibly will never ever forget... and the only moment that I (as well as many, many, many other audience members) have laughed so hard that I've cried in church... Our little angels stole Baby Jesus out of the manger and took off!... Due to some sort of Christmas Miracle Braydon had the presence of mind to capture the whole thing on film:


Here, as the bible story of the birth of Jesus is somberly read aloud in the dimly lit church, the boys realize that there is an actual baby lying in the manger (well, it was actually a doll, but it was very real looking)... you can see the look of sheer wonder (and thrill) in their eyes.


As many of you know, the boys desperately want a baby brother/sister. They ask for this almost daily. I fully believe that in this moment they truly thought that their biggest dreams had been answered on this very special Christmas Eve and that this baby could potentially be theirs! Just imagine- we've been making this huge deal about Christmas- finally it is clear to them-- "Ah ha!!! This is why they've been making such a big thing of this!!!!!!" In this photo above, you can see the look of concentration on Owen's face as he ponders how to claim this baby -- "Hmmmm... How can we get it out of the manger and out of this place? I think I could just snatch it right now..." And you can see the look on Kyle's face too as he peers up at his 3-year-old cousin -- "Sadie, you're my cousin and all, but don't you dare even think about stopping us from taking this baby!"

And then, they make their move. Owen snatches it out of the manger, Kyle's got his brother's back, and the two of them take off, delighted. Sadly for them: 1) MorMor took the baby away and put it back in the manger, and 2) They realized later that the baby was just a doll. The entire Christmas Eve congregation in this quaint little New England church erupted in deep, belly-aching, tears-streaming, from-the-gut laughter. A little Christmas present for us from our two little angels!