Awana "Happy Birthday Jesus" Party

We had our final Awana meeting for the semester yesterday morning from 10 to 12. We had a birthday celebration for Jesus, along with a live nativity for the children to enjoy! One of our student ministers dressed as a shepherd, and took the kids to the manger scene, where he told them the story of Jesus birth (Thanks Douggie!!! You did an excellent job!) The kids seemed to enjoy it. One of the funny things about the morning were the live animals. We were supossed to have some sheep, possibly a donkey, we even checked into having camels. As it turned out, none of those animals were able to join us. The only animals available were these two sweet little baby pigs. Now, I'm not sure if pigs were present when Jesus was born, but our living nativity was equipped with 2 shepherds standing watch over the pigs. Funny! The kids loved them and our morning went very well! We celebrated with birthday cake, a message from John, gifts, and of course, a visit to the manger where we were reminded about the reason we celebrate Christmas! May we not get so busy that we forget the birth our our Savior! Enjoy the photos!

Brandon, Bradley and Brenna are checking out the pigs.

Here is some of the cast of our living nativity! Thanks guys!

This picture is so funny! John was in charge of picking the pigs up and taking them back home. So, we followed him to take them home so the kids could see all the pigs at the farm. Now, pigs don't usually smell like roses, and when I opened the van door, Bethany soon learned this to be true. She said, "OOOOH, Mommy, Poop!!!" She did not let go of her nose until we left the farm. I laughed watching her hold her nose!