Tradition

So tonight I think we started a new tradition for the Christmas season. Our neighbor mentioned that their family had gone to the live Nativity in Alpine. I had never heard of it, but thought it would be something good to check out, so tonight, for family night, we went. It was well worth it. What it is is a group of neighbors who recreated a small Bethlehem, with a market place in a barn, sheep, goats, a camel (which Maya went crazy over), and a couple of Roman soldiers riding their horses through the area. It was very interesting. Then after you walk through the open barn you cross over to an enclosed barn where there is a couple with a live baby in a manger. It was amazing how quiet all the kids got when we were in the barn with the couple and the baby, very cool.

We parked at a church, and from there they take you up to the barns in trailers with hay bales to sit on. After we got to the barns and were walking up to them, Jackson said that he could feel the Holy Spirit. It was neat to hear him say that out loud and really recognize that feeling.

It was snowing lightly, but on the way back started to get windy and colder than what would be comfortable, but I think it was a hit, all the kids were excited and happy afterwards. It was good to go and have something real and tangible to show the kids, especially Jackson and Maya, what Christmas is really about.