The Nativity

Our stake puts on a live Nativity every other year the week after Thanksgiving. It's quite the production. It took 2 hours of standing in line to go through with our kids. They estimated that between 18-20,000 people went through this year.

It begins with the prophet Isaiah writing scripture and the scripture account narrated in the background. As you walk, you see shepherds tending real sheep and Mary riding a donkey with Joseph leading her in the distance. Then there are the wisemen, along with a real camel and people tending goats and walking around carrying baskets and such. Just before you enter the enclose pavilion there is the tax collector counting money. Inside, there is a carpenter and his son, various people working with wool or weaving or making pottery and a real donkey. As you wind your way through, the last person is the inn-keeper who stands at a door saying, "There is no room in the inn." At last you reach Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus in the manger. There is soft music playing and chickens standing around. Some people were moved to tears, but everyone--even young children and rowdy teenagers--is still and reverent.

Jeremy, Aaron and I got to play this role on Wednesday night. It was really wonderful. Aaron was a champ and was awake for a lot of the time. It was nice to just sit and stare adoringly at my newborn son for nearly and hour and a half. The hardest part was not looking at people as they passed by. It was a sweet way to start our Christmas season this year.

When we were there a reporter from the Salt Lake Tribune came through. Here's the link to the news article. It's mostly about the Nativity in the Glen, but there are pictures of us.

Here are the photos taken by a photographer a few weeks before our performance: