Over Three Thousand, Five Hundred People Total....

Fay said she woke up feeling like she'd been trampled by a thousand camels after the first night.... wonder how she's feeling this morning after the third night?

We couldn't wake up.

Finally the twins were crawling all over our bed and we came around.

Our music went well last night. We pulled together some girls and practiced for a couple hours before the program and they pulled off a really fun rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus as well as some other Handel's Messiah and some classic Christmas pieces.  They did a fabulous job and people were appreciative. I had to give up two girls to go sing by the manger, though - so you will be amazed that we only had 6 girls!  One guy immediately put out a call to some folks he knows at 3ABN.We've been asked to sing there before, but carting our choir out there for recording would have been quite a logistical nightmare when the kids were younger.

The main children's choir program went great like the 2 nights before. Dakota is my amazing 14 year old pianist. These three concerts were her first real concerts as pianist. She did WONDERFUL. We used the harp, handbells, and a few rhythm instruments, McKenzie is our main speaker, but several of the kids had script parts.... and then there are the candle girls; cute little things, but not necessarily good at remembering to do what we planned!

The original plan was for the manger scene to be meditative and contemplative. In other words quiet, but somehow the silence was anti-climatic. Christina, right from the start, asked for permission to sing Mary Did You Know? for the groups she helped to guide. It came off beautifully and really pulled it together. Music has a way of reaching in and snagging the heart and driving home the message, so finally on the last day the top organizers decided that they needed her to sing by the manger for all the groups. There was no way Steve could guide without her, though, and a replacement assistant would never do because Christina had taken on major sections of his script. I decided to give up Brianna and Hannah and they went out and sang by the manger most of the evening. Eventually Vanessa and Emily relieved the frozen girls. That song was the icing on the cake. The catalyst that put the mist in the eyes.

I'm heading out to help Becky pack away the Bethlehem paraphernalia. I think it might be a really big job.

 Isabelle and Delano

 McKenzie and Dakota

 Ellicia and Emily

 Hannah

 Vanessa