A nativity evening

Last night our stake put on a fabulous Christmas activity.

So we packed up most of the crew (one was at Nutcracker dress rehearsal and one was at basketball practice...but four out of six isn't too bad) and headed out for some fun.  We also brought around my mom and two of my nephews just to add some spice to the adventure.

There were four rooms with displays of different kinds of nativity scenes.  There were beautiful ones, there were sweet ones, there were creative ones.  Some sparkled, some spun -- it was so much fun to see them all.

This one was my favorite.  The picture does not do it justice, it is incredible.  Maybe someday.

The stake also had coloring and activity pages for the kids and an ornament they could make as well as treats (heaven forbid there be a church sponsored activity that did not involve treats -- the idea is completely unacceptable!).

Because of the absence of milk, Ellie opted to dip her chocolate chip cookie in water.  Um, soggy yuck, but ok, little girl.

My favorite part was the manger scene set on the stage.  To the side a couple of sweet and adorable ladies helped clothe family members in appropriate attire and then the family could pose as part of a live nativity.   

Of course, we made Josh dress as the sheep (seriously, when there is an adult sized sheep costume available is there really any other option).  I really do adore that man; he is always such a good sport when we tease him (and I will leave out the part where I accidentally had him put the sheep costume on backward at first and the cute, little tail was placed in an interesting spot on his front...don't worry, we fixed it!).

After a couple of wardrobe adjustments we did all manage to get together for a nice picture.  What a fun activity and a really memorable night.