We decorated our Christmas Tree last night. Does everyone else go down memory lane every year withyour ornaments? I do. Guess it's made me feel 'nostalgic' this evening. I have been very blessed with family and friends who have over the years given us beautiful ornaments that have helped us relive and remember good times or times in our lives. I blog about things that I feel strongly about and what a great thing to share some of our favorite ornaments an the story behind them.
I have a set of 20 ornaments, dated from 1980 to 2000. They came from, in the first year or two, my Aunts Olivia and Ethel. They signify life changes that happened throughout those years. Starting in 1989, David has ornaments, in 1990 Aunt Ethel made us a 'Our first Christmas', with our wedding date on a wedding bell ornament. Cody has ornaments from 1994 on, and Sam from 1998 on. There was the year that Aunt Ethel moved to Texas and the ornament is a cowboy hat. After that year the ornaments changed from ceramic ones to wooden to better withstand being mailed to us. Most of them were little mice in winter wear, there was one that was ice skating, one that is leaning over a chalkboard. Several years they were mice or teddy bears. The very first one was a Snowman. This year that snowman is on a little bitty tree on top of my refrigerator, as he kind fits the theme of my kitchen, which is Coca Cola so the snowmen and Santas are here and there among the Coke things.
We have many ornaments that were given to our children over the years. The boys have enough ornaments among them that they have their own tree. From Batman to the 101 Dalmations, to Scooby doo and the St Louis Cardinals their tree is their own creation, filled with their memories. Jenna, who also has her own tree, opted to 'borrow' several of my 'old' ornaments.
Our tree (s) certainly are a reflections of our life and our passions. There's one from my favorite Christmas movie, 'It's a Wonderful Life' There are several farm themed or tractor ornaments. There's Americana ornaments, stars and flags. There's ornaments to remind of us of places we have been, things that we love and so many stories that I am not even sure I could tell them all. It's is one of my goals to 'write all the stories' of our ornaments for my children. With my passion for scrapbooking, I even bought a really cool Christmas Album one year with ornaments on the front of it. Hopefully one day, I will get it done. But days like today, just getting the tree decorated seems like such a big challenge, that one might have to wait till our tree is sized back to 'just' mine and David's ornaments......... but I think that will be shame as there such good stories in all those ornaments that will leave with my kids, hopefully I will get it done and SOON. As Sam and I drove to do some errands today, we were talking about things (I love taking him with me alone, as then HE really talks ALOT and I love that!) We figured out in talking about currents events and mention of the new President, that Cody will be able to vote for the NEXT President. That was one of THOSE moments for me, that wow, OMG my kids are growing up. Made me really relish decorating our home today for the coming holiday with them as there won't be many more of those years where we are all here to decorate the tree, where I tell them the stories that I have told them every year of the ornaments on our tree. Maybe my New Years Resolution will be to make that album, maybe I can have them help me, while they still are around to.
Told ya I was feeling nostalgic today.
From Tulip~
KH
