The 25 Days of Christmas Day 4

Sometimes things are not always as you remember them.  Then it is hard to know if you changed or if it changed.  This is what happened to my husband last night as we went to Sights and Sounds of Christmas in San Marcos.  He had been before and really liked it.  He had fond memories of a wonderful display of lights and of people enjoying the simple joys of the season.  When we arrived at the event there were some lights displayed, but not as many as he remembered.  And there seemed to be people everywhere eating turkey legs, funnel cakes, and ice cream cones.  There were some dancers clogging on stage.  The youngest one was my mother's age.  I was trying to imagine my mom up there prancing around with the whole front of her shirt covered in sequins with fringe hanging off.  There were carnival rides, a model train set up, a sock skating rink, Frosty the Snowman playing on a big screen, kids waiting to talk to Santa, and a "Little Town of Bethlehem" with people in costume and doing thing that would have been done in Bethlehem around the time of Christ's birth.  It was funny because we quickly decided it was all a little overwhelming for us and Little Britches, especially because we were out at her bedtime.  She was being great but she kept putting her head down on her daddy's shoulder and saying night night.  We did decide to walk through the "Little Town of Bethlehem" part on our way out.  We watch some people making candles and someone making bread.  There were Roman soldiers around, which Little Britches call knights based on a picture from our computer of a school mascot.  We saw camels and donkeys and sheep.  There were lots of people everywhere, but we had trouble finding the nativity scene.  The place where Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were was off in a corner.  When we found it there was no one there.  The crowds were more interested in the candle making, bread baking, and the swords of the soldiers, but they were either not interested or had moved on from the nativity.  It was kind of sad.  I pray that this season I do not become more interested in the bright and shiny things of the season than I am in the nativity, for it is because of Christ's birth I celebrate.  Here are a few pictures from the night taken on my phone because I forgot my camera.  boo!