Live Nativity

About a week and a half ago we took the kids (on a school night) to what I hoped would be a wonderful Christmas event for the whole family. A local live nativity event we attended 2 years ago for the first time after moving here, I was hoping to go back and experience that same "reason for the season" feeling together as a family.

Unfortunately, half the the valley had the same idea that night, so after standing in line in a parking lot for over an hour and being loaded into a horse trailer to be transported to the main event where we were met by yet another long line, Brandon took the 2 older kids and headed home! I was sad, but I understood that none of them had 3.5 hours on a school night to spare. (That's what it ended up being.) Kate and Will both had homework to finish, and Brandon had a big surgery the next day he needed to prepare for. (I wrote about over scheduling, overeating, and overspending during the holidays for the Motherhood Matters blog last week, and I used this experience as an example!)

Luckily, the little girls were totally up for seeing things through to the end:

 In the horse trailer before Brandon, Kate, and Will turned back around:

The site that made them turn around (that's a line of people):

Onward and upward! The little girls loved petting and looking at all the animals scattered throughout the line:

And then, miracle of miracles, we ran into the family of Rachael's new neighborhood friend. This proved to be very fortunate since we hitched a ride home with them rather than making Brandon come back for us, and because their antics kept us all entertained and happy while waiting in that long line:
More cute animals. I think Rachael was hoping to ride this little goat:

Roman soldiers inside the barn:

 The Three Wisemen:
Doesn't she look like she's smiling?

Wood carvers:

More furry creatures:

Pottery makers (what are they called? potters?):

Basket weavers:

The star over the other barn holding the main attraction:

Carolers (angels) preparing the way:

Now, I don't if the organizers of the event somehow do this intentionally or if it's just a natural, spontaneous reaction from the people in line, but after 2 plus hours of hootin' and hollerin' with a bunch of spaztic, freezing kids begging to go to the bathroom and get hot chocolate, I was stunned by the sudden silence once inside the barn with the baby Jesus. Everyone (small children especially) became instantaneously silent as a reverent hush filled the air and we got our turn to stand at the manger and symbolically adore the Babe of Bethlehem. But I can tell you, for the little ones, it felt more than symbolic; it felt real:

And THAT'S why all those crazy people like us were standing in line forever on a school night. To experience for just a small moment what it might have been like to have been there on that most sacred of occasions over 2000 years ago:

You simply MUST click here for the most beautiful dose of Christmas spirit. If you're like me, music is a huge part of what makes the Christmas season so special. Kate and I are learning this on the piano right now, and I have Will committed to learn it on the cello before he leaves home. Well, they have to do it together as a duet before either of them can leave home. That's the deal, and I'm sticking to it!

13 more days until Christmas!