Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a far-away land without any snow, Joseph and his wife, Mary, traveled to the capitol of their country, from their home in the suburbs, to be counted in the yearly census for their city.  It was a long trip. Cars, trains, and airplanes weren't invented yet. Joseph and Mary didn't have too much money in their budget for the trip, so they couldn't rent a camel and had to settle for their dependable donkey as transportation.

Mary was pregnant, expecting to have her baby the next day. Mary was tired, hungry, and she had a backache from riding on the donkey. When they reached the city of Bethlehem, they saw it was very crowded because of all the other people who also wanted to be counted in the census. They needed to find a room so that Mary could rest. They went to every hotel in the city, but every hotel clerk told them the same thing: "There are no vacant rooms at our inn."

This just wouldn't do. Mary was going to have her baby very soon and needed somewhere to lie down and rest. They went back to the first hotel, where Joseph asked to see the manager. The manager confirmed that they had no vacant rooms, but since he had ten children of his own, one look at Mary told him that she had to have somewhere to have her baby.

He took Joseph and Mary to the back of the hotel, to his workshop and barn. He moved his cow out of an end stall, put fresh sraw and hay in there and told his wife to bring some blankets and soup for them.

Since this was a land of no snow, the weather that night was pleasant, and the barn was comfortable. Mary and Joseph ate the soup, cuddled together under their blankets, and talked about what they would name their baby. An angel appeared and told them to name the baby Jesus, because Jesus means "God is salvation," and their baby would be saving every person in the world when he grew up, so they decided to go with that.

Mary's contractions got closer and closer. The manager's wife came to the barn with some of her girlfriends, and together they prepared to help Mary have her baby. Even then, hot water was a necessity, so they made sure they had lots of it. Joseph kept busy coaching Mary on her breathing.

Mary spent the rest of Christmas Eve in labor, until shortly after midnight when the girlfriends took over, and with their help, Jesus was born on Christmas Day.

And that's how Mary and Joseph spent their Christmas Eve once upon a time, a long time ago, in a far-away land without any snow.