Ornaments

I saw this on Jen's blog & just loved it. For me, one of the best parts of Christmas is the traditions and the memories. I love pulling out the Christmas boxes and thinking of all the memories that go along with each item.

Probably my very favorite part of Christmas is the bell tree. For my whole life, we have always had a special tree in our living room that is decorated with blue or white lights and silver bells. My dad gave my mom a silver bell every Christmas. There is one for every year of their marriage. This year the 48th bell will be hung on the tree. The bell tree is just beautiful, but the very best part of it i what it represents. I love to watch my mom put this tree up each year. Every bell is put up with reminiscences of the year etched on the bell. It just would not be Christmas without the bell tree.





We always have another tree, the tree that our ornaments go on. This is the fun tree! We add a new ornament every year, and each of them usually have a story. Here are some of my favorites...


I got this ornament right after my very first dog of my own died. Her name was Sally and I just loved her. I picked her out the day she was born & it broke my heart when she died. My parents gave this to me to remind me of Sally.

These elves have been a part of Christmas forever. My dad used to take them and hide them in little nooks everywhere around the house. We decided to make this tree this year a representative of our favorite ornaments, so I thought he belonged there.

This is one of our annual ornament additions. We actually got this at Bear World the first time we ever took James & Josh there after they came to live with us. We had such a terrific day & I love it that we have the ornament as a memory of that fun, especially now that the boys are getting older.

This little guy was chosen by James as one of the annual ornaments. He picked it because it's a skier and we all ski. Actually, James & Josh snowboard now, but wimpy me still skis.

This ornament is the only remaining ornament from the tree that my parents always had in their bedroom when I was little. They had it decorated in white lights and all pretty rose and blue ornaments. I remember that I used to love to go into their room and see their pretty tree. Looking at this ornament reminds me of being a little kid and the security of being taken care of by my mom & dad.