My Favorite Nativities

I was in my little 1/2 bath today, and was admiring some of my nativities! :) I figured I needed to take a few pictures of my newest ones, and also show you some of the details on the ones I've had for a while.

This nativity is my most favorite! It came from a young Army guy that attended our church. As far as I know, he didn't even know I collected nativities, nor was he a regular church goer. (Mainly cause he was always out in the field.) When he came home from Bolivia, he said I bought you something while I was gone! I was seriously confused, because I hardly even knew him! In the little gift bag was this!!!!

closed and opened

Probably my second favorite nativity is one that my mother-in-law bought me! Usually I pick out what she buys me and then act surprised! :) But this time, she did it all on her own and boy was I thrilled! The whole nativity is little children acting out the Christmas Story! Here is the camel!!

Here is Mary and isn't the baby Jesus adorable?

And this is the little wiseman! Check out his sneakers peeking out under his robe! Almost all of them are wearing sneakers!

A few years ago, my Mom gave me this Alaskan themed Nativity! I loved the igloo shape and all Alaskan animals. All the people are native-looking and the wisemen all are carrying "handmade" baskets.

The itty-bitty Baby Jesus on the dogsled about did me in! :) Of course when I looked at the box and it said "made in China", well that was maddening, but I'm just choosing to ignore that part!

This is my Russian stacking doll Nativity that is actually made in Russia! :) I love this one too! My sister gave it to me! All the hand painted details are gorgeous!

Have you heard of a matchbox nativity? Closed it looks just like a matchbox, see the strip on the side? But it slides open and plays Holy Night. A gift from my SIL.

This is my newest nativity! My nieces (who belong to the above mentioned SIL) sent me this adorable teaset! Wish they lived closer, we'd have a tea party!

Many moons ago, my mom took me, my sister, and my two sisters-in-law to Cancun, Mexico. The best part of the trip was finding this nativity! They are all little bells, made out of clay. Here are the three "wisemen"! Check out their guns!

These are really little ornaments from Hallmark. I really wish I had more to go with this set! Gotta love Snoopy!

This nativity was given by a missionary couple to my mom's best friend. Her friend knew about my nativity fetish and knew I'd appreciate it more than she would. It's all handmade, and there is also a cow, donkey and an angel. And they came in an little handmade basket with a lid. They are from Brazil. I just love all the little details: their hands, the flowers on her dress, the little bits of wood sewn together for the baby, baby Jesus' face...

And my last nativity story! :) Back before Christmas my parents went to Spain. They stopped by the house "on their way" and Mom and I were discussing all my nativities. I was telling her how I just really was to the point of just collecting smaller nativities, because I was running out of room. So I was surprised when I received this in the mail from her. It's not huge, but they are about 12" tall. I almost broke the thing when I picked it up out of the box. I didn't realize it was three seperate pieces! Thank goodness it didn't break!

So we when we were in Alaska this summer, a few days before Christmas mom holds up this tiny bag and says, "This is all you're getting Sara! And you have no idea what it is!" Now this is rather unusual, because we usually get a big gift and a few little things. So I said, sort of sarcastically, "I bet it's a small nativity from Spain!" She looked at me like I had just ruined the greatest surprise. Mike (DH) asked me why I had to ruin the surprise. And I said, "I was just guessing!" Here's what I opened on Christmas. While it's not my style, it's certainly my mom's!! It is all handcrafted in Spain, 24 ct. Gold. I have no idea what it cost, but I'm sure it wasn't cheap!

Well, shoot! I guess I forgot to upload it to photobucket! I'll have to leave you in suspense until the next time I post!!

And in the words of the best grandma ever: "That's about enough of that!"