Dinner at Bethlehem

Marc, Mason, and I got to partake in something this Christmas that I never dreamed we would get to do! Melissa Roe, one of the children's ministers at our church, asked us back in November if there were any chance that we would want to be Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus in our church's annual Dinner at Bethlehem event. After crying like a baby, of course I said yes, yes, yes!! I didn't even have to think twice! I knew it would be something we would like back on for years to come thinking how blessed we were to even have our very own baby boy and that he would get to play Baby Jesus for a night. :) I can't wait until the day that Mason truly understands the meaning of Christmas and we get to tell him the story of the birth of Jesus! We will tell him all about how at 7 months old he got to play the role of the newborn baby Jesus. :) It really was so sweet hearing all of the comments that the little children would make. They would come up so in awe of the situation, especially of this little baby kicking his feet up in the air. Mason laid in that little manger and LOVED it! He loved being the star of the "show"! He just stared at all the onlookers with his huge eyes and didn't even mind the fact that he was laying in a very uncomfortable wooden box with splinters sticking out of it! He was so good and didn't even really fuss into he got a little bit hungry. One little girl said to her little friend, "Oh, he's soooo tiny!" Her friend said, "He's sooo soft!" They were so sweet thinking that Mason really was this little newborn baby!

My parents went with us to witness that special moment and took lots of pictures. My mom has so many more on her camera but we're trying to figure out how to load them onto our computer. She took a few with our camera though, so I'm posting them below. Of course of all nights, Marc was on call that night but we managed to work that out somehow. Just notice something a little different in the last picture! :)

Getting ready for our big night... We tried the most interesting garbs on Marc before we found out that actually looked right! We were dying laughing because some of the little "dresses" we put on him were the shortest!

Wrapping Mason in his "swaddling clothes"

He was so happy to be wearing this interesting outfit! Goodbye silly smocked "dresses" and sweater vests!
Love this one of Joseph and the longest newborn Baby Jesus ever!



Carter Evans was so enthralled by Baby Jesus! His little brother, Seth, was a little more apprehensive!

We made best friends with the Wise Men that night!

Good friends stop by... Brian, Tara, Ty, & Ansley Petty; and Cory & Andrea... Maybe the Brostos will be in our shoes next year with Baby Luke! :)Will & Melissa Logue... Will plays a signficant role in all this later! :)

My dad went outside with our camera to check out the animals

Okay, so halfway through the night Marc DID actually get called into work! Five minutes after the call, he was outta there! So, our wonderful back-up Joseph, Will, had to move quickly into action! Marc walked out of the room and less than 5 minutes later here comes Will dressed in the EXACT same outfit, even wearing Marc's sandals! It was the funniest thang ever! It reminded me of the movies where someone beats someone up and steals their clothes! I am still laughing about it right now. And of course we got the most confused stares after that. They were thinking, "That's April & Mason, but that's not Marc!" "And wait, isn't Will married to Melissa and they're expecting their first child?"

This was definitely a Dinner at Bethlehm we will NEVER forget!! HHCC, thank you so much for giving us this wonderful opportunity to teach our son about Baby Jesus during his very first Christmas!