My Nativities

As promised, here are some photos of a few more of our nativity scenes. I have several more which I didn't get out this year because I ran out of high places to put them and didn't want to risk Lucas breaking them.

This first one was my paternal grandmother's. She actually painted it! She made a total of seven sets so that eventually each of her grandchildren would have their own nativity (there's a complicated inheritance scheme involved!). This was actually her own personal set and the first one she made. I love how colorful it is. It also kinda' cracks me up that one of the shepherds is black. It was actually pretty progressive of her to include a dark face in the set, but if you think about it, they all should have dark faces! There is also a wooden stable but it doesn't fit on our mantle and this year I wanted this set to be as high as possible!

These are three of my favorite small nativity sets. The far left is carved out of olive wood and is from Israel. Abel and I bought that at a church fair when I was pregnant with Lucas. The middle and far right are Peruvian. I purchased the middle one from a vendor at Eastern Market in DC and my cousin and her Peruvian husband brought the far right one back from Lima, Peru for me last winter.

Thank goodness I have relatives who are world travelers! Another cousin bought this one for me in Switzerland. It is so beautifully carved and I love that they left the bark on the wood.

And, of course, I have to get Lucas in on my obsession with his very own set--the Little People Nativity! My parents gave this to him last Christmas. I thought about arranging the figures before I snapped this picture but I kind of like how he has everyone just milling around. (Please note: Sir Topham Hatt and a gorilla are not included in the set! Can you spot them?)

Thanks for joining me on a tour of just a few of my nativity sets!