In Which the Crittergators Visit the Manger

And on this day, we celebrated Second Christmas, which is to say that we visited family for yet another marvelous holiday meal. On Christmas eve and Christmas day, we visited my family. And on this day, we visited my husband's family in the Johnstown area.

My husband's father passed away two weeks before Christmas a few years ago, and my husband and I celebrate Christmas (and other holidays) with his widow. She does a fantastic job of decorating the house for Christmas, including setting up a fancy holiday village and a beautiful crèche, or manger scene. 

And of course you could probably have guessed the very first thing that happened when I got there. The Crittergators, who adore Christmas and everything about it (and who are likewise clad in red and green, so befitting the festive season), clamored to get out of my camera bag so they could join in the adoration of the infant Jesus.

I noticed that Mary had thrown her hands in the air and Joseph appeared to be clutching his chest, as though to say, "Who let those little red and green mice things in here!?" But of course once they met them, Mary and Joseph saw straight into their good hearts, and they welcomed the Crittergators in. And so there the Crittergators knelt among the beasts, the shepherds, and the wise men, who had come bearing gifts; and they all adored the Child. And in the sky above them, the angels sang: Glory to God in the highest! And peace to all creatures on Earth!

Our only regret was that the Dancing Girl and her trusty Cat-Steed had not accompanied us. The Dancing Girl has been putting in extra hours serving as the angel atop our Christmas tree at home, and so I had given her the day off to rest up. When we got home, you should have heard the Crittergators trying to tell her all about what she'd missed: about the stable, and the animals, and all of the visitors, and how the angels sang, and Mary and Joseph, and the boy-child Jesus and the miracle in the manger.

The song to accompany this blessed scene is one of my absolute favorite Christmas tunes, and I'm including two versions. The song is What Child Is This? The first version is by Martina McBride. The second is by the Moody Blues. Enjoy, and we hope your Christmas was joyful and bright!

P.S. Here is an earlier take on a very similar scene from two years ago. Different manger, same Crittergators. May I present . . . a pretty little piece of whimsy: The Legend of the Crittergators in the Manger.