Merry Christmas

"And she shall bring forth a son, And thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins." Matt 1:21

The manger

and let us not forget the humble bed that the Christ child was placed in.

Nativity with Mary

"...And the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou amoung women." Luke 1:27,28

Nativity with Joseph

"Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:" Matt. 1:24

The wise men

"...behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born King of teh Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." Matt 2:1-2

Shepherds

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: adn they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:8-10

Camel

And a nativity isn't complete without a camel.

Christmas nativity sheep

Sheep have been added to my Careche. :)

Christmas dinner at Church

Had a great Christmas dinner at Church. The photo just the appetizer, then came chicken with onions and mucshrooms and for dessert, flan and peach half over slice of pineapple. Yum

This years nativity for my collection.

Found the cutest nativity to add to my collection. This year I sewed one. The Careche is finished. Stay tuned for future pieces.

WOW, the belén (nativity scene) is to the Spanish like lights are to some Americans

I just came back from my friend Teri's house. She showed us her "nativity". Like I said before WOW!!! I told José he is in trouble now. She wanted me to know it told the story of Jesus as you follow it along starting at the door.First we see the three kings on their journey on the upper level and daily life back in the day.Then we come to Harod and the Romans on the upper level and the market on the lower level. Just to the left of Harod are the shepherds around the tree which has an angel in it.More of the life of the people back in the day on the upper level and in the lower level you can see a pregnant Mary on the donkey with Joseph at her side.and on the upper level more of the life and times and the lower level shows Mary and Joseph with the baby Jesus out in front. If you look closely in the background of the lower level is a scene of Mary again on the donkey with the baby Jesus in their escape away from Harod.On the end of this scene, you can't see it too well since it is sideways, is of Jesus as a boy working with Joseph as a carpenter. Comments are welcome so I can tell Teri what a fantastic job she did.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas!

Finally, we got our tree today. I forgot how pokey real trees can be. Christmas trees in Spain come complete with a root ball wrapped in plastic. New for me, but it makes sense. I actually bought ornaments for the tree. All those in red are compliments of Ikea, España. After putting all the homemade ornaments from the girls over the years it looked a little sparse. But I refuse to give up my paper angel for the top of the tree. I think she is about 20 years old now. I have my collection of nativities all around the piso about 12 now I think and I am just finishing the final touches to one I have sewn for this years addition. Spanish classes are coming to a close for this trimester, I take my trimester final on the 14th. English classes end for the holiday after next week and then begin again around the 6th of January.