A Christmas Pageant

Taylor and Chandler decided that this year we should begin our Polk family Christmas festivities with a reinactment of the story of the birth of Jesus. They worked so hard on assigning parts and making costumes and did a great job managing all of the "actors."Taylor called me the day before to tell me that Collin, Henry, and Parker would be the three wisemen, and that if I had "like a cape, or a crown or something fancy he could wear...that'd be great." Sarah Kate was the north star. They firgured that this would work because she could just roam around and everyone would follow her. What sounded to me to be nothing more than a recipe for disaster actually turned out to be the highlight of our Christmas together. It was great to see the kids work on something together, and even better to have our time together centered around a celebration of Christ.

Our directors take the stage to make a we're-not-sure-this-will-work disclaimer.

King Herrod (Colton) orders the death of all firstborn sons.

Edie plays the role of the baby Jesus. (Gender, age, and presence in the 'manger' before Mary and Joseph arrive are to be ignored...they were working with what they had.)

Mary (Lexi) and Joseph (Patton) travel to Bethlehem where they gaze lovingly at the baby, as does the donkey (played by the ride-on dog dubbed "Mr. Nippers" by the kids. We were delighted to see that Mr. Nippers had landed a role.)

The north star (and baby) shines, leading the way to the baby Jesus!

The three wisemen bring their gifts to the baby. (It was impossible to get a good picture of the three of them...this is the best I could do.)

The proud Mama....and wiseman? Looks a little confused.

Chandler performs "Silent Night" in sign language.

The entire cast performs a Casting Crowns lip sync, and takes a final bow!