BFR: Christmas Eve Nativity Story

As is Tradition in many household, Christmas Eve we read the Nativity story while it was acted out by the Best of the Brown family.  Knowing how theatrical most of this family is, I promptly volunteered to be an audience member.... :)

(Mary:  Claire,  Joseph:  Joseph)

Mary and Joseph are all alone in the stable after having been turned away from the Inn.  Just chillin', waiting for something to happen.  Claire really wanted to play Mary and she did a great job.  We've got a little actress on our hands. 

She had the baby! (Awesome picture & filter stolen/pirated/borrowed from DJ Brown, he seems to have a knack for taking great pictures.  How does one learn something like that anyway?) 

(Shepard1 - with crook:  Caleb,  Shepard2:  Beth,  Cutest Sheep Ever:  Emily)

Our little group abiding in the field was so cute!  Emily even has fluffy white ears and a tail.  It was awesome.  They planned on Gigi getting in on the Sheep action as well, but she kept asking to be the Princess... Clearly there was some confusion as to which story we were reenacting. 

(Angel:  Trish)

The Beautiful Angel came down to bring good tidings of great joy.  It just so happens that apparently she looked more Princess-like than anyone else.  ie:  where Gigi got the idea to be a Princess.   So naturally Trish gave her the tiara and made all her dreams come true.  Every little girl wants to be a Princess  :)

(Left to Right:  Wiseman1:  DJ,  Wiseman2:  Matt,  Wiseman3:  Mike)

When they first came in I was looking for which one was Matt, at first I couldn't find him, but I did wonder who in the world the shorter guy with the scarf wrapped around his face was.  Turns out... My Husband.  Apparently wiseman are quite old and therefore hunch down a fair amount, making him several inches shorter than he really is.  Who knew?

(Fellow Audience Members:  Dan,  Jen,  Narrator:  Dave)

Tracie was the director and made sure everyone made their entrances.  Kris was in charge of costumes - although I highly doubt she was behind Wiseman2's scarf usage...   Kristen, Jen, Dan, and I (basically all the in-laws)  were audience members.  

Along with the show we had a "Jesus style" dinner.  We had fish - Salmon & Halibut, Unleavened Bread - which was actually quite good, and a Veggie salad - with Olive Oil for dressing.  All Courtesy of Kristen and DJ - Man do they know how to cook Salmon.  Yummo!   

BFR: Iron Chief - Gingerbread Style

Here is the first of the long time coming Winter Holiday's post from the Brown Family Reunion.  The reunion took place during the 2 weeks surrounding Christmas, there were so many things planned in those 2 weeks because it was the first time in several years that all of Matt's siblings had the chance to be together.  I'm sure it was very different that anyone expected because in ten years people tend to grow up, change, and start families of their own.  All in all, as far as I know, everyone had a wonderful time and is looking forward to the future when the next family reunion will take place.  

As mentioned, there were many activities planned for the family.  One of my favorite events was the "Iron Chef Gingerbread Contest".  We were split into four groups and assigned an ingredient that we needed to highlight in our creation.  We had the power over our individual ingredients and had to barter with the other groups in order to get everything we needed.  We could built anything we wanted to as long as it highlighted our ingredient.  (Also... we used Graham Crackers instead of gingerbread... Way easier that way)  

At the end of the building we voted on each others creation as to which fit into each category best; Most Colorful, Best use of Ingredient, Most Creative, and Overall Favorite.  

Let the show BEGIN! 

Team Nuts - Beth, Trish, Joseph, DJ

Team Nuts built a bird house, their detail was Amazing!  They were able to construct little birds, not to mention tile the entire roof with sliced Almonds.  

Team Cereal - Tracie, Kris, Gigi, Claire, Emily

Team Cereal consisted mainly of the cute little girls, with the help of Tracie and Kris.  They each worked on a separate piece of the house and then brought them all together at the end to create the finished product.  By far, they were the ones who incorporated the most decorations into their creation. 

Team "Ivan" Marshmallows - Matt, Jen, Kristen, (and Dave if he could have been there)

Team "Ivan" or Marshmallows has some history behind it... entirely too much to fully explain here... Basically Ivan was the name of a marshmallow snowman from years gone by, who in the end, suffered a tragic fate.  This is the resurrected Ivan atop his Castle in the Sky.  My favorite part is the plane that has crash landed into one of his clouds. 

Team Pretzels - Jess, Mike, Dan, Caleb

As Team Pretzels we decided to take advantage of our ingredient and make a Pirate Ship instead of an actual house, we thought the pretzels would work out well for the deck and the masts.  We ended up with a Ship, shark fins coming up out of the water, and a island with a Treasure Chest.  I was pleased.  

The voting was very difficult because all of the creations were so well done (thats what you get for bringing together a family of artists).  In the end things measured up pretty well though....

Most Colorful:  Team Cereal

Best use of Ingredient: Team "Ivan"

Most Creative: Team Pretzels

Overall Favorite: Team Nuts