The Makings of a Christmas Tree

A few weeks ago I attended the Nutcracker Market. While at the Market, I purchased deco mesh, ribbon, and more to make this year's tree the prettiest yet! In my head I envisioned a music note theme that would compliment the blue hues of our home. It would be elegant, tasteful, and worthy of the cover of a Pottery Barn magazine. I had plenty of beautiful globe ornaments in navy, gold, and silver, and knew that I would not be putting up very many of my novelty ornaments that had been collected over the years, because they wouldn't all fit and they wouldn't match my theme!

As I unwrapped each ornament this year for our tree trying to decide what would make the cut, I was filled with sentiment, emotions, gratitude! Before I was born my mother began a tradition for our family that continues to this day- every year she picked out an ornament for each of us that would be ours to have forever. It was certainly appreciated our first Christmas when we had more ornaments than our little 2 foot tree could hold! Looking at each ornament, I was filled with so many memories.

Of course THESE ornaments would have to go on the tree- My first ornament and Peyton's first:

 




Can't forget my Beauty and the Beast years:

     

Or my NASA years:

    

My Choir years with Mrs. Wynne:

  

Ornaments from my travels around the World:

 

And of course this Texas gal can't forget her Texas Capital ornaments! My parents have given me on every year since they began making them more than a decade ago!

 
 

And special ornaments that have been given to me over the years that include a sweet sticker covered stocking from my niece, Clifford from Gretchen, TCA ornament, an ornament for my second year teaching, and even the missing monkey that my mom sneaked on my tree one year HAVE to be on the tree:

Marriage brought in a new collection of His & Hers ornaments, as well as a few from Daniel's childhood! I love the addition of MUSIC to our tree, that truly represents not just Daniel's talent, but the effect it has had on our home:

  

I of course want to carry on this tradition with Peyton, so I HAD to hang up her ornament we picked out this year (the little "pea" its holding says "Sweet Pea"):

Before I knew it, EVERY "novelty" ornament made the cut, and the tree was full! The pretty globe ornaments are still in their boxes, and wont make it on the tree this year. My Pottery Barn dream was nice, but this tree is so full of memories, and that is SO much better. As I look at our tree, I am thankful for each memory the ornaments represent. From the handmade Choir ornaments, to the silly Clifford inside joke ornaments, to the "our firsts" and "baby's firsts", I love our tree. I especially love this years addition- a baby gate!

I'll end on this thought- It is SO easy to get wrapped in everything that Christmas really is not- the decor, the gifts, the food, the stress all this can cause- it is not about ANY of those things, but about love. Not just the love of family and friends, but the kind of love it takes to send your One and ONLY Son to Earth, to be born to die. To die for you, to die for me, to nail our sins to not a Christmas tree, but a Cross, so that we can all find true forgiveness and freedom from our bondage. Let us get wrapped up in that freedom. 

Merry CHRISTmas!