Nativity Sets
Scott has gotten to do a lot of traveling in his life to some pretty cool places. And he brought into our marriage some little treasures from all over the world. Now, I don't necessarily share the same love for many of these items as he does. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate a sculpture hand-carved from wood found from a rare tree in the back woods of Nigeria as much as anyone. But this does not mean I want it displayed on my mantle. (Does Nigeria even have back woods? I'm not sure.)
So as we moved into our first house together with all of our hand-me-down furniture and college decor, Scott showed me all of these items bathed in world culture that were now called "ours." One of the items was a wooden nativity set. When it was time for our first Christmas together, out came this nativity. I'll be honest: I didn't really like it. I gently suggested that maybe we could pick out a new nativity together that we would both really love.
"What's wrong with this one?" Scott asked.
"Well, it doesn't have any color. And I don't see why we need to put it out just because you got in Mexico when you were a kid," I snottily replied.
"Mexico?!?!" he scoffed. "I got this in Bethlehem!"
Oh. Somehow the nativity just got much cooler. I don't know how I missed this crucial piece of information in the original presentation. So here sits our nativity today, it's seventh Christmas as "ours."
Although it still isn't exactly my decor style, it is very intricate and beautiful. And how amazing to have a nativity carved in the city where Jesus was born! I truly love it! Now if I could somehow figure out how to love his didgeridoo from Australia...
So this is where our tradition comes in. I love that our nativity has a story and a history behind it. Even the funny story of how it did not come from Mexico. It means so much more to me than if we had just picked a new one out at a store as I suggested. As our babies' first Christmas approached in 2008, I decided that I wanted them to have a nativity when they were grown that they loved and that meant something to them.
I shopped for a long time to find the perfect one for each of them. That year, I went ahead and purchased two whole sets. Each Christmas Eve, the second present they open (after their Christmas jammies) is a new little piece to add to their collection. It was an expensive initial cost, but I decided to go ahead and buy the whole sets up front in case they stopped being carried at some point. And my over-organized self even wrote out a little chart to tell me what piece they get new each year and to keep track of which pieces they've already gotten. If I die, Scott is under strict instruction to make sure he follows the schedule and keeps giving their pieces each year on Christmas Eve. Someone please make sure he does this.
I'm slightly obsessed with Harper's nativity. Its the Foundations line designed by Karen Hahn. It's so pretty and delicate and fragile and sparkly, just like Harper. I love how each piece has a little word scripted on it--Joseph says "faith," one angel says "glory," Mary says "the promise." Each piece breathes a hint of what the real character personifies. And it has a bunch of angels, which I like.
I love the strength and solidity of Hudson's nativity. His is from Jim Shore. Its made of painted wood and is so masculine. Each piece has a little scene from the first Christmas night carved and painted on it, illustrating the bigger story behind each character. This gives it so much depth. And with that depth coupled with tons of bright color, its perfect for Hudson.
"What's wrong with this one?" Scott asked.
"Well, it doesn't have any color. And I don't see why we need to put it out just because you got in Mexico when you were a kid," I snottily replied.
"Mexico?!?!" he scoffed. "I got this in Bethlehem!"
Oh. Somehow the nativity just got much cooler. I don't know how I missed this crucial piece of information in the original presentation. So here sits our nativity today, it's seventh Christmas as "ours."
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| If you're thinking, "shouldn't there be a camel?" you're right. Just yesterday a certain child of mind knocked the camel off and he suffered a tragic leg break. He's still in recovery. |
Although it still isn't exactly my decor style, it is very intricate and beautiful. And how amazing to have a nativity carved in the city where Jesus was born! I truly love it! Now if I could somehow figure out how to love his didgeridoo from Australia...
So this is where our tradition comes in. I love that our nativity has a story and a history behind it. Even the funny story of how it did not come from Mexico. It means so much more to me than if we had just picked a new one out at a store as I suggested. As our babies' first Christmas approached in 2008, I decided that I wanted them to have a nativity when they were grown that they loved and that meant something to them.
I shopped for a long time to find the perfect one for each of them. That year, I went ahead and purchased two whole sets. Each Christmas Eve, the second present they open (after their Christmas jammies) is a new little piece to add to their collection. It was an expensive initial cost, but I decided to go ahead and buy the whole sets up front in case they stopped being carried at some point. And my over-organized self even wrote out a little chart to tell me what piece they get new each year and to keep track of which pieces they've already gotten. If I die, Scott is under strict instruction to make sure he follows the schedule and keeps giving their pieces each year on Christmas Eve. Someone please make sure he does this.
I'm slightly obsessed with Harper's nativity. Its the Foundations line designed by Karen Hahn. It's so pretty and delicate and fragile and sparkly, just like Harper. I love how each piece has a little word scripted on it--Joseph says "faith," one angel says "glory," Mary says "the promise." Each piece breathes a hint of what the real character personifies. And it has a bunch of angels, which I like.
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| Harper's nativity at our house today |
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| Her full nativity, plus an awful blue velvet backdrop. (Picture taken from yonderstar.com where you can purchase the Foundations collection.) |
I love the strength and solidity of Hudson's nativity. His is from Jim Shore. Its made of painted wood and is so masculine. Each piece has a little scene from the first Christmas night carved and painted on it, illustrating the bigger story behind each character. This gives it so much depth. And with that depth coupled with tons of bright color, its perfect for Hudson.
I just hope his wife likes it.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a picture online of his full set. Apparently, Jim Shore puts out new lines each year because they all looked different than our 2008 line. Sorry, you'll just have to trust me that it's awesome because I don't feel like unpacking the other 11 pieces just to take a picture of it. But you're correct if you're picturing me patting myself on the back for ordering the whole thing three years ago.
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| Hudson's nativity with his pieces thus far. |
I love that idea! My mom bought me the Willow Tree one a couple of years ago and has been adding pieces for me... guess I have a lot in common with your toddlers :) Oh, and for the record, Brian likes ours!
ReplyDeleteWhat a precious tradition!!! I am stealing this idea and filing it away for when we have kids someday. And I love, Love, LOVE that you have a chart to keep it all organized because that's totally something I would do!
ReplyDeleteLove this! And love that you're super-organized self has a chart! I hope you don't die! We have our magnetic nativity advent calendar that each child gets to take turns opening a door and adding a piece to the nativity each day and on Christmas morning before we see what Santa has brought, we add baby Jesus to the scene and read the Christmas story from the Bible. So far, it is still a really big deal when it is your year to put Jesus into the scene (thankfully, my kids are super-organized and keep track with whose turn it is each year because we all know I'm not making any charts! And if I did, I'd probably lose it!) And I have to say I loved it when Sam was little and would insist on putting the sheep and camels in the sky and it would nearly cause Levi's head to spin around on his neck. Joey also thought the sky was a great place for all the pieces. Sadly, all our pieces are properly on the ground this year and it makes me miss my sweet babies who thought sheep and camels should frolic with the stars. Thanks for sharing your traditions!
ReplyDeleteLoved hearing your traditions! I thought I should do that sometime--write our traditions in the blog--but I'm still working on simply getting everyone dressed more than twice a week. I love the nativity idea and loved every one that you have. I buy ornaments for the girls each year that I try to make symbolize something about them from that year (ie. I made a snowman out of buttons for N's second Christmas because she was really into snowmen that year and I found a Santa dentist ornament last year that was so cute and I got it for Maggie because she is obsessed with brushing her teeth (even at 16 months old then and still is today.) : ) My hope is that when they go off on their own, they will have a special ornament collection to decorate their own trees. (but I still hope they come home to me for Christmas!)
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