Our Christmas Tree

It isn't easy to blog with the kids home. In fact, I am simultaneously writing this post and spinning the wheel in a very exciting game of Twister. It's hard to (Right Foot Green) put a sentence together (Left Hand Yellow) while calling out instructions (Right Hand Blue), so please bear with me.

We have been busy little bees around here. We had 4 holiday performances, 2 which involved my two-year-old sucking his thumb, yawning and staring into space. That would be perfectly fine, except that he was in the show. I'm not sure he realized that. I don't think he's destined for Broadway, but he sure gave us a lot to laugh about.

We went to see Santa at the mall today. I believe this is the first picture that we have with him where there isn't one child screaming in terror. Although I'm relieved that no one was terrorized and everyone was smiling, there's a part of me that's a little sad. They're growing up.

Last year...

This year...

I shared my Colonial-style Christmas tree with you a few weeks ago, but the tree that I really consider our Christmas tree is this one.

Yes, the star is crooked and most of the ornaments are dangling precariously on the bottom branches. It's not a tree that will be featured on other blogs or saved in anyone's design inspiration files. But, to me it is more beautiful than any tree I've seen in the glossy pages of a magazine.

Every year we strap a Frazier fir to the roof of the minivan to bring home and create our family Christmas tree. Nothing beats the smell of a live tree. Although we barely have enough ornaments to fill half the tree, we always choose a large one. I could run to the store and buy ornaments to fill the empty spots, but that will never happen. This is a tree that will grow over time. It is filled with our family memories. It cannot be rushed or styled.

Each ornament means something to us. It started with a marriage

and a Hawaiian honeymoon

It grew with the birth of 4 children.

Those children blessed us with the greatest gifts in life.

Their precious hands made ornaments more special than anything sold in a store.

The tree serves as a place to store memories. We always bring home an ornament from our travels. They remind us of summer vacations to Hilton Head.

Traveling around Europe before kids. (This is a lace ornament from Bruges, Belgium.)

Having fun with Mickey and friends in Orlando.

The few months we spent on Bainbridge Island, WA, taking the ferry back and forth to Seattle.

A Canadian adventure.

A trip to beautiful Santa Fe, right before my husband and I became outnumbered with the birth of child #3.

It's fun to unwrap the ornaments every year and reminisce about places we've visited and things we experienced. Even the not-so-memorable trips provide a source of laughter. We bought an ornament several years ago on a vacation to San Diego. Luckily, we got it on the very first day we were there. By the second day, smoke and ash from wildfires covered the entire city when the Santa Ana winds shifted direction. We escaped on the first flight we could get. Ahhhh... memories!

I hope this Christmas is filled with wonderful memories for all of you :) Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to...

Tuesday's Treasures