Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2013 - December 23 - The Meaning of Christmas

Christmas means many things. The most important meaning is that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. For that reason, prominent in my home are the nativity scenes.

This first one, I pulled out of the storage container. It is one from my childhood. I don't know when we purchased it.

The star is missing from the top. The front part folds up for storing. Although, there are two sheep in the front, the scene depicts the visit of the three magi (two in front and one in the stable). Also in the stable with Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus is a camel.

My mother purchased this Mexican scene when we went there just after Christmas, I am thinking January 1980.

My Guatemalan scene has grown in stages. The original pieces were the wooden figures. These were a gift from my brother and sister-in-law. During a visit at Christmas, I was given some more characters, the trees and buildings. Several more have been added since. 

Family is an important part of Christmas. As a child, I was fortunate to live across from my paternal grandparents. We would get to see our cousins too. My great aunt Margaret spent many Christmases with us. I usually spent some time with family at Christmas. It is a few years since I have hosted a Christmas celebration with some of the family.

Since, I became interested in genealogy and my family history, I also wonder how our ancestors celebrated Christmas. For many I am sure that celebrations were simple with church services being an important part of the season.

The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December!

© 2013 Janet Iles

Guatemalan Nativity Scene 2010

Guatemalan Nativity Scene 2010
Originally uploaded by JanetII

I have been having trouble posting photos to Blogger. Today, I decided to try another approach. I have used Flickr to upload to my blog by using Share, Blog it. This works great if I only want one photo in the article.

This is the photo of the nativity scene from a different angle. I have raised the Holy Family about a half inch but you can see that these figures are much larger than the village people.  The Holy Family and the 3 Magi are wooden and they were my first items that I received from my brother and sister-in-law. 

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2010 - December 17 - Nativitiy Scene

 My Guatemalan nativity scene with a few additions is the focus in my living room. Here is how I have set it up this year.

Unfortunately, I am still having trouble with uploads of photos to my blog so this does not show the colors well. I have posted them to my Flickr account. At the point of the page, there is a link to my Flickr account.


© 2010 Janet Iles

Advent Calendar of Memories - Nativity Scenes

My Guatemalan Nacimiento

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. (Luke 2: 16)

The Nacimiento includes figures of village folk on their way to visit the new born Christ Child.

 Today's theme was a grab bag - our choice.
© 2009 Janet Iles

Naciminento (Nativity Scene)

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. (Luke 2: 16)

The Nacimiento includes figures of village folk on their way to visit the new born Christ Child.

During my trip to Guatemala this year, I purchased more people to add to my scene.

Article on Nativity Scenes 2007

Nativity Scenes

December 7 - Christmas Grab Bag – Christmas Crèches or nativity scenes

This is a reporting of both Christmas past and present. Christmas Crèches or Nativity Scenes or Nacimientos remind the viewer of why we celebrate Christmas. They can be of all shapes and sizes and from a variety of materials. Some are 2d and others are 3d. St. Francis of Assis is given credit for the beginning of the 3d nativity scenes. Some large ones are displayed out of doors.

I still have the nativity scene that is enclosed in a cardboard casing and part of the tableau folds down to show the scene. It was put up every Christmas when I was a child. This year I have chosen to highlight others that I have.

I have a minature white Crèche that my mom bought for me to have in my bedroom in my early adult years. It is only about 6 inches wide.

A co-worker gave me this minature scene that can be lit with a tea light. This photo has a LED tea light to highlight the figures.

My parents and I took a trip to Mexico in 1988. My mother purchased this nativity scene. The angels are added to the scene.

My most recent addition came from Guatemala. The main pieces are carved from wood. The scene includes village people on their way to visit Jesus as well as the magi travelling a great distance. The two angels are from my Christmas tree ornaments.

These nativity scenes are a very important part of my Christmas decorations in my home.

This posting is part of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories hosted by Thomas MacEntee