Ward Christmas Party

On Tuesday December 15th, we had a ward Christmas party.  When there is a ward party, the women get together in groups to prepare the food.  And everyone contributes money because there isn't a ward budget.  I was put in a group that made chili rellonos with chipolte chilis, which are traditional for Christmas.  Tuesday morning a sister that lives near me came to pick me up, and together we rode the bus to the RS president's house.  There were four in our group.  We put cheese in the chilis and dipped them an egg batter and fried them.  I have no idea how they warmed them back up at the church.

The party started around 7pm.  First were the pinatas - seven of them!  The young women had made some of them.  Five were for the primary kids and two were for the youth.

Here you can see all the primary kids watching the pinata.  Notice the ladder - a guy was on the roof pulling the rope of the pinata.  There's a fun song that everyone sings while a child swings at the pinata, and when the song ends, your turn is over.

After the pinata was knocked down, Brother Frias shook out the candy and chips.  The kids were so excited the first time that they knocked him down, and he is a big man!

As one woman in the ward commented, Chiara is the ward doll.  All the little girls flock around her and try to play with her.  Here Chiara is wearing a piece of the pinata as a hat.

Joseph takes a turn at hitting a pinata.

and Daniel . . .

and Stephen . . .

and Elena.

After the pinatas, everyone came inside for the program.  The youth started with "Angels We Have Heard on High."  Karl, who is the YM president, led them and Elena accompanied them.

Next was the nativity pagaent presented by the primary.  The story started with the Nephites.  Someone had painted the beautiful backdrop with the pyramid that can be seen here.

In between scenes, the primary kids all sang.  Daniel is at the end dressed in a blue sheet, and Joseph is in the back with a yellow sheet.  They learned some of the choruses of the songs, but mostly faked it since it's hard to learn a song when you don't even understand the words.

The angel appears to Mary.

The star was so cute!

The angel tells the shepherds about Christ's birth.  Daniel is one of the shepherds (with a yellow head-covering).

The kings discuss the new star and what it foretells.  Joseph actually got to say a line: "Nunca habiamos visto una estrella asi." He did a great job memorizing it.  He is the king in a yellow sheet.

Then the kings followed the star (her Mom helped her walk around) . . .

until she stopped over the stable where the kings fall down and worship the baby.

After the primary, some of the RS sister performed a couple of dances.  Finally, when the program was over, dinner was served.  It was after 9pm.  We had turkey, spaghetti, stuffed chipotles, fruit salad, and ponche (a yummy warm drink made from various fruits and sugar cane).  It is typical for the Mexicans to eat their evening meal between 9 and 10pm.  Their afternoon meal is usually eaten between 2 and 5pm.  Everyone sat around eating and visiting, and our kids were exhausted.  Daniel fell asleep on one of the benches, and Joseph turned backwards on a chair and fell asleep with his head on the chair back.  It was a fun party.