Our Epiphany Celebration 2010

This year our family had a celebration on Epiphany. We had a wonderful meal, talked about the Three Kings who went in search of the Christ Child and the meaning of the gifts that they brought, and we revisited the true meaning of Christmas. I definitely enjoyed our Epiphany celebration better than the hustle and bustle of the big day of Christmas.

I liked the slower pace and the opportunities that we created within our little family to really think about our faith and its significance at this time of year - not be focused on what ALL those packages were under the tree! And there were a TON of packages under the tree! Perhaps in years to come we can spread out this gift opening extravaganza to various days throughout the Christmas season... I'll ponder that one!

We enjoyed a feast of tenderloin steaks, sweet potato goodness (topped with a brown sugar, butter and pecan crumb top - yum yum yum!!!), and a corn casserole (Bud's fAVORite!). We used our finest china and glassware - it was beautiful and delicious! The treekids got in the spirit of the celebration and "dressed up" to be one of the three kings, Mary - the mother of Jesus, and the angel. Branch orchestrated the costuming and the gift bearing.

We talked about what gifts we can give to Jesus, NOW... The treekids all found a jar and put inside their gifts... Branch wrote "Love" on a slip of paper and put it inside a jar. She wrote "Peace" on another slip of paper and told Blossom that is what she needed to give to Jesus. Bud asked about Frankincense and what it looked like and then went outside to collect some stones to put in a jar.

While we ate, this is what Bump was up to...

Sometimes he enjoys swinging and other times... he couldn't be more irritated with it!!

After we enjoyed our lovely meal, I brought out these lovely surprise treats... PEEPS! It turns out that these stars were peppermint flavored. All those little red flakes were like those Listerine strips and were SPICY HOT! Let's just say, they weren't a favorite of anyone! The "JOY" were plain and much preferred!!

After all of that fun, we let the treekids open the THREE GIFTS in the middle of our dinner table!! Inside, they found a Hershey's Pot of Gold box of chocolates, a board game and a box of crafting materials to create with. Wecleaned up the kitchen and all sat around the table and played the new board game and ate some chocolate cheesecake with a brownie crust... YUM! What a nice family evening we shared together!! I look forward to more celebrations like these!!