Bethlehem

And the blog-a-thon continues.... This past week we went on a field trip to Bethlehem and it was incredible!! It was a little tricky getting there, since it is in the West Bank and all, but we made it through and had an awesome time!! We started our day by going to the milk grotto, which is this church dedicated to where Mary breast fed Jesus and tradition says she hid from Herod before they fled into Egypt. Tradition also says that the babies that Herod killed are buried at that site... interesting, no?

After that we headed over to the church of the nativity, which is the main site there. It is in a little place called manger square. The church was SUPER touristy- but I didn't mind because it was so beautiful!! There were a ton of people there. You go into the church and then you climb down some stairs and touch the actual place where he was born- or so tradition says. Here's a pic of me touching the spot:

We then went to some other churches and sang some hymns and had a devotional. We also had a few minutes to shop around- and I found this nativity worth $50,000. Crazy! Here's a pic of it in case you are wondering what you can get for $50 grand these days:
After our trip to manger square, we all went out to lunch at the tent restaurant, which is basically restaurant inside a bedouin tent. And the food was pretty good! From me going clockwise, it is David, Claire, Janae, Becca, Loie, Brennan and Bonnie. Good times!
After that we went to the church dedicated to the shepherd's fields- which are behind this church. Here is Shaleigh and I:
And then we went to the LDS site for shepherd's field, which is where this pic is. David and I took a pic together since I'm wearing red and he's wearing green, going along with the Christmas theme and all.
Overall it was a fantastic day and I definitely would say that going to Bethlehem was worth it!! I wish I could go back! Welp, I'm still in Galilee and loving life- more on that to come! :)