Bearing gifts, we traverse afar

As we celebrated Epiphany yesterday, we listened to our hilarious pastor describe the journey of his nativity set's Wise Men, or Kings, toward the creche where the Christ child lay in the manger. At our home, we've never separated the nativity pieces - other than to set Jesus aside until Christmas eve - so this idea of the Wise Men searching and traveling to find the child was intriguing. We spend each morning of Advent watching the girls (mainly) search for our family Elf, so why not spend the weeks between Christmas and Epiphany watching them search for the Kings? It would prolong our family fun and keep the spirit of the season fresh.

That said, I don't know if I am ready for the Kings of our main nativity to travel. They are clay figurines and very fragile. But the Little People version could certainly traverse afar. And maybe the Kings of my newest nativity set...

I found this at Ten Thousand Villages and adored the crochet figures.  Since it's from Peru, it's like these little men have really wandered field and fountain, moor and mountain following yonder star.

Of course, the best part of Epiphany for our family is King Cake! This year, Nana and Papa made sure a cake traveled from New Orleans just in time for us to celebrate.  Randazzo's is one of my favorite bakeries in New Orleans (for King Cakes).   It arrived a little mushed, but within 24 hours of it's baking, so it was still very fresh.

Apparently there is now a law that requires the packaging to state "plastic doll inside."

A very excited first bite of gooey goodness!

Showing that finger food can still be enjoyed with class.  Pinkies Up!

Showing that a three year old can shove more into her mouth than a 14 year old.

I'll be making our traditional Friday King Cake this week.  Visit me then for a peek and maybe a glimpse of the recipe???