The nativity scene at White Sands retirement community has slowly evolved into an entire biblical village of miniature proportions. Shepherds herd their flocks along castle walls. Merchants sell from baskets of fruit and vegetables, and measure out flour and spices on a scale. Mothers swaddle babies in brightly colored tents with Persian rugs, while donkeys and horses lie down to rest in straw. Irma Shobring, 83, spent six hours over four days building the nativity scene by scene, a tradition that began nine years ago with fewer pieces. Shobring had to make six trips in her Volkswagen Beetle from her storage facility in Chula Vista to White Sands to deliver the whole set. “I start with the wall and every year it’s different,” Shobring said. “It just depends on how the pieces come out of the box. I like to change it so people don’t get bored.” She began her collection by purchasing characters, scenery, barns, sheep and babies from a company in Italy called Fontanini, but recently she finds additions to the set on eBay. She even found an artist in Maryland who will handcraft pieces for her that she can’t find elsewhere. “[The nativity] grew when I started adding outbuildings, which meant I had to add animals, which meant more people,” Shobring said. “Every year I added to it except this year. It’s our gift to the residents.” Irma Shobring and her late husband Paul moved to White Sands on Olivetas Avenue 10 years ago.