A Night In Bethlehem, a time my kids will not soon forget.

Christmas is, hands down, our favorite holiday. We love every part of it. We mix our Christian beliefs in with holiday traditions and come out with a well rounded family celebration. This year we have been a little out of sync. We have not read our usual Christmas stories, and we have only watched one of our Holiday movies so far. I have however, read about that night in Bethlehem to the kids. A couple of days ago my boys got to spend some time in Bethlehem and bring that story to life. No, we didn't actually go there, but it was the next best thing (best thing for me since I am petrified at the idea of flying!).

I had gone out to my sister's church that morning to go see my nieces perform on stage. That was an experience! :) Love you girls. They are in the circles above. Anyways, after the program ended, my sister took me down to where Bethlehem was and gave me a sneak peak of the city. It was a room empty of people but I could tell it was going to be a great time. We discussed going and my sister came down, grabbed myself, my mother and my boys and brought us.

Walking in you get signs directing your way to Bethlehem. Once you get there, you are given a 'census' and are asked to register. They give you a tote bag with some goodies in it for the kids and then you are ushered to a well done backdrop of Bethlehem for a photo opp. This picture is being mailed to me.

Next you are greeted by a lively and friendly tour guide that welcomes you to Bethlehem City and shows us a few places and introduces us to the town beggar. We hit the bread shop where lovely baskets are overflowing with home made bread and in  some stoneware we found some honey, butter or jam to spread on them. (I loved that part!)

Then there was a series of tents. Each tent had a shop of some sort where you could do a different activity. They were all well done and had low to the ground (authentic looking) tables and candles for light. There was a metal shop to make jewelry, a paint shop to paint ornaments, a wood shop to hammer wooden pegs in boards with mallets, a candy shop to try some sweets, a leather shop to make a pouch and bracelets and a scribe shop where the boys got to have a rolled bible verse sealed with wax and their initial imprinted on it.

To top the night off, we ended it with going outside and seeing the first and best live nativity I've laid eyes on. Whoever did the construction of the sets and props did such a great job. There was 3 pens with real animals in them. The pens and stable had a rough cut, hand done kind of look to it. There were 2 cows, a goat, a donkey and sheep. In the middle of the pens was the stable where the holy family were celebrating the birth of Jesus. The only thing missing was the live baby... I was told he hadn't been born yet. It probably was for the best, it was really cold!

Everything was done so well and all the people were really into it and their characters. This event was the first that this church had done like this, and I hope it is the first of many. It has made an impression on my mind so I know that it had a wonderful effect on my children. This will surely be a new tradition for us if it is available each year. They said they got a great turn out, so we can hope! If you are involved in a church and maybe in its programs, I highly suggest this as one of your events. Don't let the stress steal your time, remember the reason for the season and if you can, go experience something like this!!