Breakfast with the Three Wise Men

I almost didn't include this post. I had practically deleted it from my memory the minute it was done. Mainly because I was in charge and so happy to see it done. (Seriously...huge waves of relief.)

I completely understand why they dissolved the activity committee's in our church, but I sure miss them when I am suddenly in charge of the Ward Christmas Party.

Technically, I was in charge last year as well, but I found a superwoman and she and a committee organized the whole thing. (I still feel some shame about that, but she did a great job.) And really, my counselor and her committee still did the majority of the work this time around as well, but I was much more involved. Enough that I was holding my fair share of the stress and anxiety.

But being in charge does have some perks. Like I decided I wanted to do a breakfast. So there. Ha. I like breakfast. It was nice that we could set up the night before so we had less prep work the day of. I'm including many photos so I can remember how we worked things, especially since chances are good that I will be in charge this year too. (Oh boy.)

I wish I had taken a closer picture of the cute bags Briana made for the tables. (But I didn't take any photos. Remember the part where I was in charge? I was at the microphone, in the kitchen, refilling food, supervising, etc. Tyler had the camera and was very nice to take pictures.) And speaking of kitchen. We had some angels in there that performed some miracles. There were some eggs that didn't want to be ready on time, but the guests never even knew there was a problem. I LOVE these ladies.

It helped that we didn't start the breakfast right away. We knew everyone would arrive a tad late so we started with a quartet. (Can't remember their official name, but the singer on the right is my counselor's Dad.) They were fantastic. I really think every Christmas program should have some kind of music. It lifts the soul.

And then everyone dug into the grub. We had Caramel French Toast (catered), breakfast burritos, and fruit. It was all very delicious. I didn't actually eat until after, but everything was tasty, even slightly cool.

Here is me sometime during the morning.

Tyler took plenty of pictures, but I look old, and harried in most of them. Truthfully that is how I seem to look all the time now. I guess the bloom of youth is gone for good.

Our program was simple. We had the Bishopric dress up at the Three Wise Men. (Except that the Bishop was busy, so he wasn't actually there. Bummer.) The children all gathered at the feet of the first wise man.

He spoke briefly and then they all traveled to meet the next wise man. (Basically, they crossed the gym, but it is good to get kids moving.)

Finally, they traveled to the third wise man, who had a short message followed by the nativity video. (Just the 3 minute version.)

And that was it. Short and sweet. (Just like me *wink*) We finished up and then families were welcome to follow the star to the nativity room.

I love the nativity room. We actually had more nativities last year, but this year we added pictures of Christ, and the effect was still beautiful. I myself added all my nativities including the one I bought this year.

This last picture was taken much later after some of the nativities were taken home, but I still love the simplicity of little Sadie looking at the scenes.

And then we cleaned up forever. Note to self: Give the priesthood more responsibility than just putting away the tables and chairs, because clean up does not stop there. (And with only 5 people, it sure takes a long time. But 5 is better than 1, for sure.)

Oh, and the best part of the whole thing?? We had the breakfast on Dec. 1st, so I didn't have to worry about it during the rest of the season. (Now that is peace on earth.)