Alysha hadn't seen it all the way through and Cassie hadn't seen it at all, so it was neat to see them experience it. As usual, I teared up in the beginning, when the young George Bailey gets his bad ear hit by the pharmacist before he realizes George just stopped him from accidentally poisoning a family. But I always bawl at the ending, especially when George's brother, Harry, shows up and says, "A toast to my big brother, George, the richest man in town."For dinner that night, I made up a pot of broccoli spaghetti with grape tomatoes, one of Sean and I's favorites. There's not really a sauce to it, but lots of parmesan cheese that you toss the pasta and veggies in after you've added some butter and lemon juice. Either they were just faking or else everyone seemed to like it because there weren't any leftovers!
After dinner came the highlight of the day. We headed to the Church at Rocky Peak, just outside of Simi, to go to their Back to Bethlehem event. On their website they say it's "more than a nativity scene and not a play..." It was an awesome experience and you really did feel like you were traveling back in time. They gave everyone a handful of "shekels" (coin money) before you entered Bethlehem and you had to use one immediately to pay your taxes. Everyone was in costume and in character. There were Roman soldiers, inn keepers (who slammed the door in your face as they told you there was "no room in the inn!") and merchants selling spices, bread, pomegranate seeds and clay beads on a bracelet that you could buy with your shekels. There was also a Rabbi school and people at work making mud and straw bricks, fresh-pressed olive oil, woven baskets, e
tc. You even got to visit Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus (a real newborn baby) in the stable. Sorry, this is the only decent picture I got from my cellphone. Ethan especially liked all of the animals. He got to pet a donkey, goats and sheep. The goats and sheep were eye-level with Ethan and he really liked it. At one point he was completely boxed in by animals and there were quite a few tourists taking pictures of it! It's really hard to explain how well done it was, and of course we don't really have any pictures from it (left the camera in the car) - but it took up about the space of an LDS Stake center parking lot with all sorts of buildings (most were just backdrops) or merchant stands. They also had angels that were spotlighted and sang every 10 minutes or so - of course the Roman soldiers couldn't hear them and would ask everyone what they were looking at! As you were leaving Bethlehem, you would pass by the three wise men who would question if you had seen the newborn baby and when you told them he was in a stable, they would be shocked that a King would not be born in a palace. Anyway... all very well done and very memorable.
1 comment:
I hate that part in "It's a Wonderful Life" too, when the old man hits his ear, every time I watch it I somehow think maybe it won't happen this time and of course it does.
That picture of Back to Bethlehem is kinda spooky, looks like Joseph's a ghost.
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