Merry Merry

My new nativity and Marc's Christmas - just kidding, his real Christmas is the big Lego.

A very Precious Nativity

I have a growing collection of beautiful and remarkable Nativities.
I have one of snowmen, one of Charlie Brown figures, one plaster Mary, Joseph and Mary that Marc hand-carried home from Spain, one carved into a porcelain egg, two created by Jim Shore, one that's just the stable animals looking curiously at the Baby Jesus, nesting dolls, a glass set, one made of popsicle sticks, two Mexican sets and one carved into an acorn.
I love them all and enjoy unwrapping them each year and setting them up with care, remembering where I found them and what each one means.
But one stands out and not just because it was the first.
But because it was purchased over four years at a time when we had very little money for extras.
Then, Marc and I had a busy, full, house with a dozen kids headed in every direction. We had a limited income and many demands on our tiny Christmas budget.
It was rare to have a spare $10.
My husband bought the components for my Precious Moments nativity when he could save up the $50 for each year's addition in spare change.
The little set is a miniature Precious Moments Nativity with a Baby Jesus and a Mary and a Joseph and eventually, three Kings on their camels, an angel holding a star on a wall, a drummer boy, shepherds and tiny sheep. (One is a little gray one.)
It was truly a gift of love.
Marc knew I enjoyed these.
He's been dragged to more than a few Creche collections over the years.
He helps me guard my collection from little children and guide their little fingers to the more kid-friendly Nativity sets I have of plastic and fabric.
I'm thinking he's precious too.