Conci's Second Birthday

This past Sunday we celebrated my cousin's second birthday, which was the perfect time to take my new camera out for another test drive. I can't resist a picture of adorable kids...especially little toddlers enjoying sweet treats! 

Meet the birthday girl, Conci (short for Concepcion, my late Nana's name)!

As soon as she saw this card she ripped open the envelope and checked out the goods inside.

While we waited for the most important part of a two-year-olds birthday (the cake, of course), another one of my cousins kept us all entertained with funny faces:

And then it was time....

...time for cake! Get excited.

But just as Conci got ready to blow out those big-girl candles...

Little Elijah rushed in thinking it was his birthday party! 

Luckily, the birthday girl didn't even realize what was going on! 

If cake is the most important aspect of a party, then presents are most definitely the second best part. Conci ripped through her presents likea girl on a mission.

One of her favorite presents from the day must have been the mini piano her Godfather gave her.

Because after she got it out of its packaging, she got right to business. I don't know about you, but I think we have a budding pianist on our hands. 

Happy birthday, Conci!

Las Posadas de Tome

Every year in the tiny farm town of Tome, New Mexico, dozens of church-goers gather to reenact the religious procession and ceremonial ritual when Joseph searched for shelter for Mary on their way to Bethlehem. They go from house to house looking for shelter and are turned down at each resident. Finally, they find a place to rest at their last stop—the church. The following is from the second stop on their journey.

It's reenacted with great dramatic, pious fervor, and is called Las Posadas (posadas means "inn" or "lodging place"), because it's based on the Christmas story as told and written by Saint Luke.

"In those days Caesar Agustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazaeth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting his child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1-8)

*Since this is my photography blog—and my place for learning and practicing—I want to fully disclose that I am NOT happy with how I took these and the way they turned out. I know what I want to try for next time, but I was also very eager to share this special tradition with people who might have never heard of it before.