Christmas in Bethlehem

Tonight was our ward Christmas party. In an effort to do something a little different, our activities committee decided to do a 'Christmas in Bethlehem'. We had done something quite similar when I was growing up in 6th Ward. I remembered how cool it had been, so when they called and asked me to help them plan it, I was actually pretty excited about the whole thing.

The amazing women in my ward transformed the cultural hall into a pretty fair representation of a Bethlehem market -- complete with trees and wells and a courtyard. It was really amazing once it was together -- much better than I could have anticipated.

The first part of the evening was spent in the 'market'. We paid our 'taxes' (canned food), signed the census, and were issued our allotment of gold/silver for the evening. There were shopkeepers for each of the shops in the market -- soup, chicken, bread, fruit/nuts, salads/sides -- as well as jewelry, carpentry, etc. We went around, paid them our gold pieces and ate some yummy food. Sam, Michelle & Megan were kind enough to come down from Monterey for the weekend to be the official photographers and they had their own booth in the marketplace, complete with a beautiful backdrop that someone in the ward had painted for the occasion.

The second part of the evening was a short presentation of the Christmas story. I had been asked to organize the music for it, and have spent the past several weeks planning and practicing. I took the celtic harp (more authentic to the time period), and played the prelude for the program on it. Once everyone was assembled in the 'courtyard' by the stage, we commenced with the play. Michelle volunteered to play the piano for me so that I didn't have to do my regular routine of running back and forth from the piano to the harp. The music was beautiful and the spirit was strong and I really enjoyed the whole thing.

Every time I participate in one of these events, I am always amazed by the amount of work it takes to make it happen. This was definitely no exception, and I must admit it's a relief that it's over. However, it really was better than your average ward Christmas party and I'm grateful to all who worked so hard to put it together. (And to Sam who was kind enough to share his photos:)