December, Remembered - Upon a Midnight Clear

Like so many wise folks before us, the second Sunday in December found us gathering up our treasures (the kids) and taking them on a journey to see the new born Christ child. We bid farewell to Grandpa and Grandma in the morning, rested for the afternoon, and by the evening were ready to settle back into the seasonal celebrations. The night was clear and beautiful, and due to the rainy weather the two previous days, everyone else had decided to wait and come this evening as well to pay their respects (and to get some hot chocolate). We found there was nary a room at the inn, or, in our case, a parking spot in the church lot. After securing alternate accommodations for our van on the neighborhood street around the corner, we ventured up the sidewalk walking with the throng to:

Every year we come to one of the church buildings

in our stake to see the numerous displays

of creches from around the world, and to enjoy the

living nativity presented on the back lawn.

This year I had actually been a volunteer who had come

earlier in the week to help unpack and set up the

creche displays, I helped set up most of Africa in

one afternoon. There were so many beautiful creches made

from so many diverse materials following so

many different traditions.

The lighting inside the building, (along with my meager

photography skills/equipment) don't make for great

photos in this setting, still there are so many worthy subjects.

Harriet with a couple of swell shell creches

Henry with a Tibetan hand sewn scene

Jed admiring the "fear not" sign around

the neck of the heralding snowman angel

"Whimsical Peruvian Nativity

handmade in Peru by the disadvantaged.

Notice the very unusual animals for a

nativity scene"

Looks like there's a penguin and a butterfly

in there with the traditional oxen and donkey,

as well as the hen and rooster from a vintage

Fisher Price farm set.

Lastly, we venture outside for the live nativity show

and the complimentary hot chocolate.

We also get to meet and pet a featured player

in the production, a sweet, soft burro

with the unlikely name of Madison.

Obviously sunday best is not a requisite.

We enjoyed Follow the Star again for another year,

and found it a fitting end to our fun and family filled

festive weekend. I'm sure we'll be back again next year!