A night in Bethlehem...

We had a wonderful experience early in 

December when we attended a live Nativity in Alpine. 

The Alpine Living Nativity is a family-run organization. It was started by Alison Hayes Larsen and is still run by her immediate family, and the property is donated each year by Will Jones. He also owns Alpine Realty. 

The Alpine Living Nativity is an all volunteer organization. Money raised from ticket sales is given to different organizations like Huntsman Cancer Institute and Builders without Borders.

We had a glimpse of what it might have been like as we journeyed to Bethlehem.

There were Roman soldiers telling us to keep moving and a tax collector asking everyone if they had paid their taxes. The village marketplace had several vignettes of people carving wood, making bread, and baskets. 

There were also real live camels! 

This is a portion of article from the Deseret News in 2003.

"We're not real farmers," says Patti. Will works in real estate, and have a farm on the side. We have cows and chickens and some peacocks. We had a friend who was getting some llamas. He asked us if we wanted any, and we said, 'No, get us a camel,' just kind of joking. And then he showed up with two camels! They were about a year old at the time. So, it's been fun, but it's been a learning experience.

It has been fun to dispel some of the myths about camels. For one thing, the hump is not used to store water. It's actually made of fat deposits. That fat means they can go for long periods without food, and because they also don't need much water, camels have been used for centuries in desert countries. In fact, while there are still a few wild camels found in parts of Asia and Australia, most of the world's camel population is domesticated.

Camels eat grass hay (no alfalfa, please) and they chew cud just like cows. Dromedary camels don't spit.

They enjoy taking Max or Margaret on walks through the neighborhood. The camel will lie down in a neighbor's yard while everyone comes to greet it, then it gets up and goes on to the next one."

We three Kings...

As we were entering the stable you could a baby crying. For a moment I felt like I was in Bethlehem and the true spirit of the Christmas season. 

Thanks to Tiffani for arranging a memorable evening.