When I was young, we went to visit my grandmother (who lived in Upland, CA) every Christmas Eve for a big family Christmas party. We would eat, give gifts, sing carols and have a family talent show. Afterwards, on our drive home, we would go to see the Christmas story on Euclid Avenue, where 12 life-sized scenes depicted the Nativity, the angels appearing to the shepherds, the flight into Egypt and other events in the Savior’s life. Here are some small photos, I found here, of each of the scenes . . .

Here is a larger photo of “No Room at the Inn“ along with some additional information about the scenes. 

The last figure was stolen a few years ago, but has been replaced as seen here.

Driving around these scenes with my family and then singing Christmas carols all the way home in the car (about an hours drive back to Huntington Beach) is one of the warmest memories of my childhood.

What are some of your favorite childhood Christmas traditions? Please feel free to respond using the comments form below.

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A quick note on Sunday posts: I believe in keeping the Sabbath day holy and as a day of rest. All Sunday posts are written ahead of time and are put on an automatic time-release. As this is a 365 project, I feel that satisfies the ends of the project while keeping my Sabbath free from work.