Teddy Bears' Note: Ummmmm, we think it was beary selective of Mom. SOME of our pictures are still available, but not all. SOME of the pictures still available must be added to our blog, and we were so hoping she'd lose them. Just remember – Mommy makes these decisions, not us. That is all we're saying about this for now.

Hi! I'm Phil, the newest member of the T. Bear Family, and this is my firstest Christmas ever! I'm so new, I'm really a Christmas gift, but I was adoptedted earlier this month, and you simply don't pack family away until Christmas morning.

Now, it's Christmas Eve, (which means the evening before Christmas), so Axlerod and Pez just read us the real Christmas story. My nieces and nephews tookeded me to our natiftee scene to point out everyone in the story, as it was being read. I'm not sure what natiftee means, but Mommy made ours from staineded glass, right before I was born. It's beary well staineded glass, cuz you can't rub off the stain. It's beary colorful, too, and I just really like all the Peoples and animals in it, even though no one has eyes.

We were in the photo, but Mommy losteded the picture, before she uploaded it onto Spaulding's computer. This is what it looks like without us in the picture.

My brand new family has given me the honor of s'plaining the story of the beary firstest Christmas. I hope I tell it right!

The Beary Firstest Christmas

by Phil T. Bear

As you know, God made the universe long, long ago. In that universe, he made earth with water, sky, land, plants, animals, and Peoples . When he made Peoples, he told them how to be good. He made rules that had to be followed, or they'd have to be punished. His punishment was always the same – the rule breaker would be sent away from God, would die, and would spend forever in a beary terrible place called Hell. (I can use that word, if it's not a cuss word!) BUT, God really likes his People, so he made another rule – someone else, who never broke that rule, could take the place of the rule breaker. Good deal, but…seriously? Who would wanna do that?

Anyway, all People broke most, if not all the rules. Good thing God really likes People, a'cuz he knew all along People would break his rules and he would help them! He promiseded the beary firstest People (and first rule breakers), he would send someone to take their punishment, if they but trusted him. (The firstest People thought he meant he would do this soon, but God never said "soon!")

Much, much, much later, when even the great-great-great-great-great grandkids of those firstest People were dead for the beary longest time, God kept his promise, and kept it in a way, that mostest People never thought he would!

That's where the firstest Christmas comes in! God actually sent his son, who is also God, and God is only one God. (Beary confusing, but this really is the truth!) I had some trouble trying to figure out how to s'plain this part, even after everyone s'plaineded it to me. Good thing Mommy found a part of the book (it's called "The Bible") that s'plains it pretty well, and she said I could add it here, so you can understand.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"  So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Gal 4:4-7 ("Sons" means "sons" and "daughters.")

That's right! God sent his son to earth, born as a baby, to cash in his perfect obedience to the law, in exchange for his People disobedience. That baby is the reason we celebrate Christmas. (No one knows exactly which day he was born, so we just celebrate on December 25^th!) Now, how did he do this?

Well, he did have to do it like his prophets said he would throughout all the years between his promise and him doing his promise, so the baby had to be born into a particular family called "The House of David." Now, David was a king, so everyone thought this promised one would also be a king – born in a fancy place with all the stuff People think goes along with being royalty. Of course, David also lived long ago, so his family kept multiplying through the centuries. That means most weren't rich anymore, and they were so many of them, they weren't even beary related to each other anymore. (If you don't understand how that works, check out this link, which explains how far away family can become as generations multiple.)

Two members of David's family, way, way down the line, were a man named Joseph and a woman named Mary. Joseph had already arranged to marry Mary, which was called "betrothed" back then, and is kinda like engaged now, except they weren't going to call off the wedding. Both of these People were still trusting that God would keep his promise some day, but they never thought it would be through them, a'cuz they were poor, and not famous at all!

One of God's messengers, an angel named Gabriel, visited Mary one day. He told her that God loved her and was taking beary good care of her, and she would have a baby. Well, Mary knew she couldn't have a baby without getting married to Joseph first, but the angel told her that God placed his son in her, even before getting married to Joseph. You know that she was trusting God, a'cuz she agreed. Gabriel told her she would be honored above all women, because of this.

Well, you have to admit that she would have had a tough time telling this one to Joseph, so Gabriel went to Joseph and told him the plan, too. He agreed, too.

Now, one thing God does for his People is to make life hard enough that they remember how much they need his help. It might not seem like a good thing, but everyone and everything needs God for everything, so it's always good to remember that! It also makes life a lot easier, when you know God's taking care of you. That time, he arranged to have Julius Caesar come up with this idea to have everyone go back to the place their family was from, so he could find out all the names of the People he ruled and collect taxes from them. It was called a "census." (It also had to be, because God promised this savior would come out of Bethlehem, in Israel, which was also the town for The House of David.)

Mary was close to having her baby, by then, so it must have been a beary uncomfortable trip for her. Add to that, once they got back to Bethlehem, so many People were already there that there was no place to stay. One innkeeper let them stay in his stable. Back then, stables didn't just hold horses, so there were several kinds of animals there.

That's when her baby was born. Joseph cleaned out an animal trough (they called it "a manger"), and then lined it was fresh hay, so the baby had a soft bed. Well, this was God's promise – the one who would save God's People! Not too many People knew it was happening, but heaven sure did, and the angels needed a really good praise fest! They had to glorify God for this wondrous moment, so they came down to earth, and found some shepherds watching their sheep. They told the shepherds what had happened, and where to go to see this newborn Savior! And then, they filled the sky (they can fly!) just to sing and worship God!

At the same time, God placed a particular star in the sky – one he had promised. Some really smart People east of Israel, saw the star, and headed for it, a'cuz they knew what it meant, too! (It would take them a couple of years to get there, but Joseph and Mary settled into Bethlehem, so they would be there still, when these smart people – called "Wise men" or "magi" – arrived giving some cool gifts, but no toys!)

When the shepherds arrived, they bowed down and worshipped this baby, who would save them. (Another word for "Savior" is "Christ," which means "Anointed One," or the one chosen by God.) Mary thought this over, as she watched.

Of course, the story of the Christ, doesn't end there, but it does s'plain what we celebrate on Christmas. We call it "Christmas," because that means "Christ's Mass," which is when Catholics gather to celebrate Jesus' birth. For Protestants, it's a church service, but both groups celebrate Christ's birth on that day.

I'm really looking forward to celebrating it tomorrow! It will be my beary firstest time.

Mommy has helpeded me make this entry, and she thinks I've done a good job s'plaining it. I'm so glad. It's hard to s'plain it. My family took hours s'plaining everything to me, so I can s'plain it to you! So, while you're enjoying Christmas, don't forget why we're enjoying it!

Merry Christmas, Everybody!

A great birthday on a great adventure. Now it feels like Christmas!