Living Nativity!

Saturday we went out with Ga-Ga & Pa to see The Living Nativity. It's at this church in Gig Harbor. They set up the whole outside of the church like the city of Bethlehem. The congregation dresses up as merchants, tax collectors, inn keepers, shepherds, wise men and of course Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. 

Walking into Bethlehem!

This was Boaz's Market...that lady had nice warm bread for everyone to try. All the merchants were fun to talk to. They were in character of course so they would try to sell you things for a sheckle.

This was a bell shop...all the kids got to ring different bells.

This is the Pharisees being holy! 

Owen and Jack especially liked the Roman Soldiers!

This was an oil shop. There was also a spice shop where the kids got to smell spices and see how they were grounded down from seeds. At another shop they were serving humus and warm lentils. It was so yummy!

Pa hauled around Zeke most of the time.

Once we had walked through the town and got to the inn...where of course there was no room...we were escorted into this tent where the 3 wise men spoke. This was probably one of the coolest parts....hearing the prophesy of Jesus' coming and imagining what it was really like back then when it came true. Oh....I get chills!

After walking out of the tent we went over by a fire and then the Angel of the Lord proclaimed Jesus' birth. After that they pulled back a fabric wall and revealed an area you could walk that lead up to the stable. They had Christmas lights in the shape of the star. Of course Owen leaned over to me and said, "I know that's not a star and I know that's not really Jesus!" I told him just to enjoy it and pretend! 

The baby that played Jesus was the cutest thing ever! He was all smiles! He LOVED the attention and never fussed once! Precious boy! It actually made me think about when Jesus was visited by the shepherds and wise men....I bet he smiled at them and enjoyed the attention as well. It's funny to think of the Son of God as a baby, but he was! 

Once we finished seeing Jesus we walked across the street to a neighboring church that had set up a free coffee and hot chocolate stand inside the church so people could come inside out of the cold. 

All the kids got their own cups of hot cocoa. 

It was pretty hot so we added some water to make them drinkable for them. 

They love getting to use those little stirrers as straws! 

Our next stop was The Black Bear Diner for dinner....after sitting in a big back up from Hwy 16 to I-5!