Jay takes Manny out to cut down their own Christmas tree, and Gloria is on edge with mom in town, but changes her tune when she sees her bonding with Claire. Elsewhere, Mitchell is forced to do last minute shopping when they didn’t get Lily the right gift, and Cameron takes Lily to a charity event where they experience the true meaning of Chritmas.

Jay shows Manny how to defend himself whilst Mitch and Cam decide to throw Sal a belated baby shower.

Alex learns she has to share valedictorian honors with a rival, but the tie could be broken by a 1-mile run for a gym grade neither has completed. Meanwhile, Gloria studies for her U.S. citizenship test, but is distracted by a visit from Javier; and Mitchell and Cameron join a protest against a restaurant where they actually can't wait to dine.

Jay and Gloria are suffering with a lack of sleep after Joe goes through a fussy phase. Claire's balance of life and work is so flawless and easy that her family is getting suspicious. Mitchell and Cameron are poorly treated at their friends' wedding and wonder what they did to deserve it.

When Jay overhears Gloria on the phone talking about spanking, he assumes she is frustrated in the bedroom. When he attempts to light the spark again by giving her exactly what she wants, he realizes he might have made a mistake. Meanwhile, now that Mitchell has an amazing new job, he and Cam throw a party to rub it in Cam’s friends’ faces so they can no longer give him “the look of pity”.

As the birth of Haley and Dylan’s twins approaches, we take a look back at how each family member celebrated their birthdays this past year.

Cameron and Mitchell’s friends mistakenly assume they have split up and have definitely chosen a side, and Haley attempts to cook Thanksgiving dinner as a thank you for Claire and Phil’s support with the twins. Meanwhile, Jay invites Phil and Dylan out to fly his model plane, and Phil thinks this is his chance to reclaim his dignity after their first outing 10 years ago went so wrong.

Mitchell and Cam settle in on their new normal, and Phil and Claire decide that one of the kids needs to move out in order to take control of the house again. Meanwhile, as Gloria becomes more successful at work, she notices Jay, Manny and Joe don’t seem to need her as much.