Mom of 2095:(we had her dressed in very funky Jetson type clothes)
Today was the worst! The automatic sidewalks were shut down, every virtual reality shopper was full, and I couldn't find a place to beam home for hours.
I had five messages on my picture phone. One was from my husband saying he would be late and the other was from my in-laws saying they would be early! I haven't had time to replicate anything for dinner. I have to do my visiting teaching and take the kids to the old Martians home to go caroling. My life is so hectic! I wish I could go back in 1995. No hassles, no stress. Homemade cookies baked in an antique electric range! Supper heated
in those old microwave machines. Life was so much slower. It must have been relaxing t listen to the water swirling around in those old dishwashers as they cleaned up after supper. They must have all had so much fun back then. I wonder what it was like. I have to get out that old nativity scene that was my great-great grandmother's. It's so fragile- I'll
have to find a very safe place to set it up. Her old journal's in the same box. I can read what Christmas was like back then. Maybe I can discover the secret.

Mom of 1995:
Christmas Eve. It hasn't all been what I expected it to be. Sometimes I wish the school board would just give the kids a two-day holiday for Christmas instead of two weeks. I sure could get a lot more done. All five have been under my feet for the last week, but today was the worst. Baby Carol kept trying to eat all the ornaments off the tree. Tommy chased the cat into it and the whole thing fell over! All of this happened before breakfast! We made traditional cookies after breakfast. Flour, butter, sugar--- you name it --- it was everywhere! I was about to pull my hair out. The kids seemed to enjoy it though. Especially when the older three decided to paint each other with food coloring. This afternoon when headed out to deliver the cookies to my visiting teaching sisters. Only one was home. The other two had gone out of town. I felt so bad that I hadn't realized. I tried to make myself feel better by eating their cookies. After we got back home I started our traditional Christmas Eve supper----Hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. Then we started to get our costumes together for the reading of the Christmas Story. No towels for the head pieces - they were all soaked from trying to absorb the water when the toilet over flowed. It seems that Nancy tried to wash her stuffed mouse and decided to flush to get the spin cycle effect. Pillow cases were pressed into service. As Dad read the Christmas Story from the bible, the kids acted out the parts and we put the old nativity scene that had been my great, great grandmother's. This was a peaceful ending to our hectic day. The kids actually settled down and seemed to really think about that first Christmas. Looking at the nativity, I thought now Christmas must have been much more peaceful in Grandmas's day back in the mid 1850's. All alone with her family in a little cabin with no T.V. or radio, or video games to disturb the quiet. When I got the Nativity scene out of the box, I found Grandmother's old journal. I turned to a Christmas entry and began to read.

Mom of 1850's;(dressed pioneer I remember our first Christmas after coming to the
valley. We had should all that we owned to be able to be with the saints. The trip across the plains had been long and hard. It seemed like it would last forever, but we finally arrived safely. The cabin that we were given was crudely made and small, but it was home all the same. Food and supplies were scarce and the saints helped one another as best they could. Times were hard. As Christmas neared, we wanted to give a gift to our
children, but we had no money. My husband had found a piece of wood while searching for something to burn for heat. He felt impressed to keep it and not use it for the fire. He
began to carve the piece of wood in the few spare minutes he had. At first he wasn't sure what he wanted to make, but as he worked, he felt guided in his thoughts and in his carving. He thought about our family and how we had been blessed with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He wanted our children to remember that the greatest of gifts long ago.
As the Children awoke on that special Christmas morning, we gathered together to give thanks for all that we had been given. We sang songs and read the Christmas story from the scriptures. When we finished, their father brought out a little manger and presented it to them. Each year that little manger is set out and it has be come the symbol for the gift of a loving earthly father and of our Eternal Heavenly Father. Many times in the evening, when the children would be asleep, I would sit in the quiet and look at the little manger. I would find my thoughts going bath to that time so long ago and to that special mother. What were her thoughts? What was she feeling on that day of the birth of the Son of God?

Congregation sings O Little Town of Bethlehem

The scene moves to Mary holding baby Jesus. We had her sitting on what looked like a bale of hay and in a traditional nativity type outfit. It was very moving.

Mary:
Today has been filled with all sorts of emotions:
pain, joy, humility, and love. Today, my little boy was finally born. The day started the same as the day before; Joseph and I, traveling to Bethlehem to pay our taxes. Joseph, being the sweet husband that he is, was worried about me being comfortable. We don't have a lot of money, but he managed to buy a donkey for me to ride on. Early in the afternoon, I started feeling small pains. I went as long as I could without telling Joseph. He was already worried and upset that we had to make this trip now. We finally reached Bethlehem just before dark. The pain had increased, but I was still able to handle it. We tried to find a room and any one of the many inns, but they were all full. No small wonder, there are people everywhere. Finally one kind innkeeper directed us to a stable
where we could stay. My first thoughts of him were not too kind. He could see that I was about to give birth. I thought that if he were really any kind of a man, he would have given me his own room. I shouldn't have thought such a thing. He didn't charge us, and a quiet stable is better that the noisy street. Soon the pain became so intense. I wanted it to stop. But at the same time knew that if it did my little one would not soon be in my arms. Finally, after what seemed like all eternity, my little one arrived. We were not really prepared to welcome him here on this trip. We had no closes and no bed for him. I did the best that I could and wrapped him in swaddling clothes. We used the manger for his bed.
Soon some shepherds came to visit us. They told us of the angel that had visited them and how they followed a new star to find us. They wanted to see the newborn babe, who they were told was the Savior of the world. They then told us of the beautiful singing of a heavenly host. They praised my little son as their king! All is quiet now. Joseph is sleeping. I am holding sweet Jesus in my arms. I think back to the time when the angel told me that I was to be the mother of this special baby. I felt honored and humble. I wondered how I could ever be HIS mother. I felt I loved Him right from the start. But now I know what love is. I know what special mission my son is to perform. I know that He is the Son of God. I know that one day all mankind will need Him.But tonight he needs me. Tonight he is only my baby, my first born son.

Special Musical trio - Mary's Lullaby

Congregation sings Silent Night