Ornamented

One of my favorite parts about decorating for the holidays is hanging ornaments on the tree.  I love pulling them out of the box and reliving the memories that they bring to mind.  Each ornament has a special story, whether it was a gift from a friend, a family heirloom, or purchased while on vacation.  As many families do, my family purchased and added a new ornament to our collection each year.  The new ornament was always symbolic of a milestone or memory from the year.  David and I love this tradition and we have continued it within our own family.  I cannot wait to see how the branches fill up with ornaments year after year…symbolic reminders of the memories we have made and the blessings we have been given.

I couldn’t find any evidence Christian symbolism behind tree ornaments, but I did find this adage taken from the same womens’ retreat I mentioned in this post.

“Friends are the ornaments of life.”  Invest your life in people and God’s Word and you will be fulfilled.  Jesus is an example of the perfect friend.  “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

I also found  this explanation of the history of Christmas ornaments.  I had totally forgotten about the pickle ornament tradition.  I vaguely remember hearing about that somewhere.  I sure am glad my parents didn’t base my intelligence on how fast I could find a hidden pickle ornament on the tree!

I thought this post would make a great “tag, you’re it” post.  So, I am tagging Stacey, Louanne, Stephanie, and Cassi…and anyone else who wants to play along!  Share your memories with us!

Père Noël

David brought this precious little Santa back from France for me in 2001.  I just adore him!  And, I love that he traveled so far to hang out on our tree in Texas!

The Christmas Caroler

This ornament was my favorite ornament that hung on my Granny’s tree every year.  I love his little cap, his straw hair, and best of all, his wide open mouth.  When she died I graciously accepted it.  I am so glad that it is a part of our collection now because it reminds me of her.

Bowl!

This is our shout out to Bowling.com!  And, it isn’t the only bowling ornament we have!  Yeah, we’re classy folks.

Arts & Crafts

David and I made ornaments like these our second Christmas together.  We bought clear ornament balls, poured paints into them, swirled them around, and let them dry.  Then we finished them off by writing a sweet Christmas message on each one with a paint pen and tied a ribbon on for the hanger.  Then, we gave them away to friends and family.  My thoughts…how did I convince David to participate in such a girly activity?…and how is it possible that we had that much free time??

Arts & Crafts…old school

I made this ornament when I was 3 years old.  The wear and tear of hanging on trees and being put in and out of boxes over the years has taken its toll on this poor little ornament.  In its glory days it had lots of sequins, but these days it’s looking a bit bare.

Bliss

All I can think of when I think of St. John is bliss…absolute bliss.  David and I honeymooned there and we loved it so much that we knew we would return again.  After losing David’s dad and our first baby within days of each other in 2006, we needed a break.  And, we knew exactly where we wanted to go!  St. John is absolutely beautiful.  We have so many wonderful memories there, and I hope that we will be fortunate enough to return again someday.

Go Mavs!

We’re huge Mavericks fans and our tree wouldn’t be complete without a little Mav’s spirit!

Baby’s First Christmas

This is Elliott’s Baby’s First Christmas ornament.  The funny thing is that it seems to be his favorite ornament to grab.  He’s been put in time out a few times for taking it off of the tree.  That “one-finger” technique is so hard to remember!

2008 – Words, words, words

We chose this little choo-choo train for our 2008 ornament to represent one of the many new words that Elliott has learned this year.  This has definitely been a year for new words, and I have a feeling that he will only get more talkative in the year to come!