Long ago, Kirk and I bought our first Christmas ornament when we were only dating.
It was this cute moose. 26 years ago I wanted to see a moose out in the wild. My dream actually came true if you have been reading our blog.
We finally saw one here.
Adding to our ornament collection has become a tradition over the years. Every year we have chosen an ornament that might reflect the year, or just be something that caught our eye.
Like these that remind us the summer of gardening and all the deer that feasted in it.
When the kids were babies, we would pick out their first Christmas ornament. It was always a special occasion searching for the perfect one for a perfect baby.
When Kaleb was little, he and I went out on a date. I think he was about 5. Victoria was a baby and he really needed some Mommy time. So we shopped for his ornament that year. I was looking at all these really cute ones. He chose this glitter ball.....It was right at his eye level. He loved that ball and carried it like it was the most precious treasure. His cresent moon eyes just sparkled!
When Victoria was just 14 months old, we were in Michaels as a family shopping for a special ornament. This one makes us all laugh and remember the moment. This pink plastic ornament was hanging at the bottom of the rack. She picked it off the hook and started walking down the aisle using it as a cane. She was the first to find hers that night.
This year she chose this unicorn that is fragile. It was a toss up between another dog ornament or something different this time. She is into fairies and fantasy right now so the unicorn is quite appropriate for her.
Kaleb found this little alien in a space ship. Perfect!
Jared surprised us all with this beautiful ball that he chose.
I feel like he is growing up. It brings tears to my eyes.
Daphne loves "culture" so she found this adorable little girl ballerina.
My grandmother was a frequent flyer of McDonalds. We always got McDonalds gift certificates in our little crocheted stockings at her house every year. But one particular year, each of the kids received an ornament of Bernard and Bianca from the Rescuerers Down Under compliments of McDonalds. It makes me laugh but it was my Grandmother. These have been a favorite of all my kids. I am probably the only grandchild that still has theirs.
Kirk and I found this one the year we got married. We had gone camping for our honeymoon. Which, up until this past year, we have never met anyone else who would venture into camping for a honeymoon. Our new friends the Summits camped on their honeymoon.
See?....we aren't the only ones!
Every year, decorating the tree has been a walk down memory lane. There are some years that we don't have any for that year...like the year that we lost baby Sarah, or the year that Kirk lost his job and we had no money. Kind of like this past year. But even though those were painful years, it shows growth. We can look back and see where we have been and just know that God has an incredible plan for our future. I have all the ornaments logged in a special book with the date that they were hung for the first time on the tree. The kids love seeing their little creations that they have made along the way. I hope they will continue this tradition. I think they will.
