Each year, on the day after Thanksgiving, our town organizes an event called “Moments to Remember”.  There are activities planned for the entire day. There is a craft bazaar and chili feed.  The downtown businesses declare it to be Plaid Friday, and they have sales. There are Christmas light lightings (that sounds redundant!), caroling, dance recitals, camel rides (last year we saw reindeer), and a cookie scavenger hunt. The kids collect cookie toppings from different businesses, and then they return to a central area where they decorate their cookies.  Davey is not much on crowded spaces, so he didn’t want to participate in the cookie scavenger hunt this year.

One of the best parts is the “Walk through Bethlehem” which is performed at night.  The performers set up along a long alley, and they act out Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem.  The Three Kings bring their gifts and sing “Oh Holy Night, (which reminds me that I need to look up frankincense and myrrh and make sure I explained them correctly to curious Davey) and the angels also sing. It ends with one of my favorite Christmas carols, “Joy to the World”.  When the performance opened, there was a line that went all the way around the block so Davey and I went home.  We came back after an hour and got there just in time for the last performance. Davey loved it.  There are goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys etc., along the route.  He likes to see the children who perform as well.

The craft bazaar was at the fairgrounds.  It was not too big, but I enjoyed it.  I tend to stop and chat too much with the vendors, and David and Davey get bored with me.  It’s fun meeting the artists though and talking about their work. On our way home from the craft fair, I took another one of my favorite types of pictures.

There is a historic building downtown with huge windows, and the local dance groups performed there while we watched through the windows.  It’s really fun, and this year they performed several selections from The Nutcracker.  Davey really enjoyed watching them dance.  He recognized a few friends, and he liked that as well.

Davey likes to attend all the lightings.  There were three of them spaced out over an hour. First, we went to a lighting at the Fairgrounds.  Then we went to the Safeway parking lot and listened to a choir sing as they lighted the Christmas tree.  Finally, we went downtown (all three of these things are within a mile of each other) and watched them turn on the lights there. The organizers handed out candles, and we sang Christmas carols and listened to the choir sing.

It’s a fun day, and is just one of the reasons we love living in a small town again!