Every year our church has a live nativity... when Branson was a baby we played the holy family... last year we opted out of participating... this year a friend asked us if we'd be the holy family again... of course I said yes... then as the day approached, I realized that baby Jesus was about 11 months too old, would be talking/babbling, have HER ears pierced, and would never consent to lying in a manager! And likely the littlest shepherd would need to be a cousin of the holy family since I didn't anticipate that he would do his part without us. I was pleasantly surprised with my children's performance last night... the first show Aubrie and Branson were so fascinated by the sheep and goats that they did perfectly... the second show was less perfect, but a wonderful account of the reason for the season!