This year Gabe and I watched The Nativity Story a few days before Christmas. I think it came out last year, but somehow we never actually watched it. That happens to us a lot, actually - we'll see a preview for a movie and think "that looks good, we should watch it!" and then six months or more later realize that we never actually did.

In any case, we did finally watch it, and I'm so glad we did! It is a beautiful movie, filmed well and with all ethnic actors. The actress playing Mary does a beautiful job. I can't say that I appreciated the "humor moments" with the magi, but Gabe thought they were funny so perhaps I just don't have the right sort of sense of humor. :) We plan to buy the movie and use it as a teaching aid as our kids get older. It brings the story to life while remaining quite true to the Biblical text. If you get a chance, this Christmas season, I recommend spending an evening remembering why we're celebrating.