The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!

As some of you may know, Jay proposed to me on Christmas Day 2000. That was the first time (with the exception of the year Sarah was born) that my family did not go to Thibodaux for Christmas. It was a wonderful Christmas, so we thought we'd try it again the following year...not the proposal part, the staying in Texas for Christmas part! :) We really enjoying being in Texas for Christmas because it's a lot more 'slow-paced'. It's nice not being on a schedule. On the down side, we miss our family and friends, along with some really great family traditions.

My dad's family started a new tradition a couple of years ago. We all go out to a nice dinner at Freeman's on Christmas Eve night. We have the entire upstairs to ourselves so the grown ups get to enjoy some adult conversation and a nice meal without having to worry about the kids disturbing anyone else who might be trying to their meal. :) The food is great and the company is even better!

My mom's family has had a Christmas Eve tradition even since my mom was little. On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, we all go to mass at the nursing home in town. Our family reads the readings, plays the piano and serves as the choir for the mass. It's always great to go because the residents really enjoy it and it's great for those who might not have families that visit or who may not be able to get out for Christmas mass.

After mass, everyone heads over to my great aunt's house for a HUGE Christmas party. Just to give you an idea...Just counting my mom's brothers and sisters (and spouses), my cousins (and spouses) and our kids, there are 40 of us. Now, being that we live in Texas and 2 of my aunts live in Florida with their families, not all 40 of us are there every year, but at least half of us are their, and that's just ONE family that is invited. My mom has 24 first cousins, who are all married with kids, who are starting to get married and have kids, etc...WOW! As I sit here typing it I can't believe how many relatives we have...yes, we're Catholic! :) hahah!

Anyway, everyone brings a dish, so you can just imagine the food that is there. Once everyone has visited, eaten, tried to figure out which child belongs to which cousin, visited, eaten, (you get the picture), we all gather in the living room for the Christmas pageant. All the younger kids get dressed up in homemade costumes as Mary, Joseph, the Wisemen, shepherds, angels, and animals. Baby Jesus is played by the newest addition to the whole clan (Emma would have been Baby Jesus this year!). There is a narrator who tells the story of the Holy Night and there is singing throughout the reinactment. After the pageant is over, we all sit around and sing Christmas carols.

We've started to try and bring some of those traditions to Texasto try to help us forget that we're not in Thibodaux with the rest of our family. :) A few years ago, my mom and dad started having a Christmas caroling party at their house. They invite friends over and everyone brings their favorite Christmas appetizer or dessert. We hang out, visit, eat (of course) and then hit the streets! We go door-to-door in my parents' neighborhood singing Christmas carols. We always have such a good time, even when we get half-way through a song and realize that no one is home OR, we can SEE people inside the house, but they pretend like they're not home. :)

This year, being that we had our own 'Baby Jesus', my mom thought we'd try doing the Christmas pageant at the caroling party. My mom got a copy of the script from my Aunt Ann and Aunt Alice and bought pieces of fabric, sheets, etc...to make the costumes. We used posterboard, paint and garland to make the angel wings. The costumes were PERFECT!

Everyone started showing up to my mom's house for the party.

We weren't 100% sure we were going to do the play because due to one broken ankle and one sprained ankle, one of the families wasn't able to come to the party, which left us one Wiseman short. BUT...as they say in showbusiness...THE SHOW MUST GO ON! :)

Emily was the Narrator and Emma was Baby Jesus

Joseph (John)

Mary (Mackenzie)

The Little Drummer Boy (Truett)The Wisemen/Shepherds (Andy and Michael)

Angel of the Lord (Maggie)

The manger :)Before the pageant started, Truett was running around like a mad man...as usual! He was full of Caprisun and cake balls.

That in addition to all of the excitement around him meant that he was a little hyper, to say the least! We were all 'backstage' in the back room getting everyone into their costumes while Truett rolled around on the floor, hid behind the sofa, and ran in circles.

I told Sarah that if he threw a fit when it was time for her to send him out, to just blow it off and not worry about it.

The pageant began and I was really nervous about Truett. I had visions of him coming out, yelling, banging like crazy on the drum, scaring Emma, she starts crying, etc... I didn't want everyone to be a 'no show' next year for fear that they'd have to sit through another pageant! :) Because I was playing the piano and Jay was videotaping, we really just had to keep our fingers crossed that Truett would calm down and do what he was supposed to. At one point, I remember thinking that I wouldn't care how he played his drum, as long as he came out and made an appearance.

Mary and Joseph came out and placed Baby Jesus in the manger.

Next, the shepherds came. Up to this point, things had gone great. Even Emma played along and was quiet, for the most part. Then, it was time for the little Drummer Boy to pay a visit to Baby Jesus. As I started playing the song, I could feel my heart beating 100 mph.

Truett came out and was beating his drum almost exactly in beat with the music. He walked in quietly, knelt down next to Baby Jesus and didn't make a sound for the remainder of the play. I COULDN'T believe it! I kept looking at Emily and saying, "Is he doing it? Is he doing it?" I couldn't help but cry...I was so proud of him! Here was this rowdy little boy who was acting like a crazy person just a few minutes earlier and now he was playing the perfect little drummer boy! It was so sweet.

It was definitely a proud moment for us. Hopefully I can figure out how to post videos soon!

All in all, I think the pageant was a huge success and am looking forward to doing it again, next year. I'm hoping we can keep the Jones Family tradition going so that Emma and Truett will be the ones wondering if their babies are going to act right for the pageant! :)