You have to go

Tonight we had a great experience at a live Nativity. Taylor's parents told us about it, and we met them there, but none of us had any idea what we were getting into. We thought we'd walk up, have a look and leave. Instead we waiting in line for over an hour (with some admitted serious line cutting, if you don't fill the gap---we will!). It was FREEZING. Especially since we don't really know where our winter coats and gloves are. But they had fire pits all along the way, so we had a chance to thaw out here and there.

If you go:
It's open from 6-10 nightly until this Saturday (12/5)
I don't know the address, but take 12300 south west to 700 west and go north. The chapel is in a few blocks. Arrive early or maybe go late. We got there around 6:30 and the line was crazy.

I'll give you the mini tour. But you should go. Even you Logan friends, drive down. You shouldn't miss it. And I guess they only do it every other year.

Each little post is amazing. It's like the best movie set you've seen. The accessories, the clothing, the furniture and fabric, all so ancient looking. This it the first stop. He's a prophet writing down the prophesies of Christ.
This is the camel (Yes, a real camel!). The kids could pet all of the animals. The camel was next to the Wise Men, but we skipped them to get around the crowd:) The camel was amazing soft. Kyle LOVED it. Couldn't get enough camel, couldn't take his eyes off of it for the picture.

This is one smart dog all curled up in the hay!
This is at the "gate" of the little city (which thankfully is indoors!). Look how real everything is!
Once we were indoors we couldn't use a flash (It scared the chickens who were wandering around), and it was really dark (candlelit, to be true to the times). I had to use my night vision on my camera. It actually did quite decent. This man was the carpenter. There were many little corners and nooks with people doing back-in-the-day things. Most poignant to me was a man who simply opened a door, looked you in the eye and said "No room." It was crowded there as I'm sure Jerusalem was, I could imagine their plight.
Here are a few more scenes. There were 6-7 that I didn't get.



I loved this. These women were just chatting by a well with running water. Many of the scenes were those described in scripture. Not sure what that streak of light is in that picture.
Look at all the props above this woman. Look at the chicken :)

There was little announcing that the Christ Child was coming up around the corner. They did have some beautiful music as you approached, but it came up so suddenly that I was very touched to see the scene. I must say I teared up, which is unusual for me. I didn't want to leave. It was such a great emotion to see this with live people and imagine how it would have been.
I turned my night vision off and just got what I could get without a flash. I think they turned out well.
I especially love this picture and how white the swaddling turned out.
Anyway, you have to go if you can. Bundle up the kids and go early. Both of my kids understood what they saw and loved petting the animals. When we got home we had a quick talk about how Christmas really is about Jesus and how it's his birthday. I think seeing the real thing instead of pictures helped Claire understand a lot more. We hope to make this a tradition (every other year, of course) for our family.

And dress warm!