There were memorable years when our brother, as a self-appointed donkey, stole the show by nibbling at the straw in the manger. The manger was our doll crib and we fitted it each year with the authentic Hawaiian grass skirts that Grandma had brought home for my sister and I. We only wore those skirts for a few weeks when she gave them to us, but after they were carefully put away in their shoeboxes, we got them out each December for their more long-lasting use. I still have mine in the grandkids' dress-ups and if any children show up at my house at Christmastime, it is pressed into use again.
Later, we got together as adults and our children took over the Nativity dramatic reading and dress-up. The cousins took over the plum parts of Mary, Joseph, the angel and the wise men. Any extras were shepherds or some type of animal for the barn.
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Sisters Annalee and Melanie sing a Christmas duet (Melanie is wearing her mother's Christmas dress from the cedar chest). McKay reads to baby Brian. |
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Cousins Brian (wise man), Sarah (Mary), Sam (wise man) and Nathan (Joseph) Note the doll crib and Hawaiian skirt straw still serving as props. |
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| Cousins Sheraya as Mary and Julia as a shepherd |
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Siblings Rachel, Nathan and Carl (shepherds) with cousin Brian as a walk-on |
Now this is a really neat tradition. My daughters and their neighbor friends used to put on plays for all the parents, but they were plays that they wrote themselves.
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