Sunday, January 6, 2013

Christmas House

I like to decorate for Christmas.  It's part of our tradition and I make no apology for it :D
Yes, I know, we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  And maybe someday I'll reflect and share more on why I/we do all this extra stuff.  But for now, basically because it's a celebration!  He came here to live among us and to do that He became one of us, with a body.  He lived in the real world and ate real food and felt the same things we do.

And we all like to celebrate.

And some of our decorations reflect Jesus... 


... and others are just plain fun, like these stockings my aunt made for us. :D


I love these pictures of the boys, Naomi,
and my dad and uncle (my dad is on the right, on Santa's lap.)


I have candles all over...


even these electric ones, in the windows.
They remind me of my grandma, who had candles in her windows every year.


And the tree...

... we have to have a real, live tree :D


This year the tree was so big we couldn't fit most of the presents under it,
so we stashed them around the house!


And our tree?
It's a little different.

Most people's trees look kind of like this.


Round shiny balls.  Maybe even color-coordinated.

Not at our house.  That blue ball is a lone ranger.  All the other ornaments tell stories...

Like our family trip to Disneyland...


... the boys' obsession with Toy Story when they were younger...


... my Japanese sister...


... our family vacations to the Oregon Coast...


... Tuba Christmas...


... handmade treasures... 


 ... my favorite ornament (this year... it changes) is this owl we got at Bryce Canyon on our big trip...


... this little owl reminds me of a grandma that collected owls...


... Kerry likes glass and I like bright...


... and I also like traditional red and white.


But maybe my favorite ornaments of all,
are the boys' first Christmases :D

Wyatt


Tate


and Gunnar :D


What's your tree like?  Tastefully coordinated?  Or a joyful jumble?

Tell me all about it :D

4 comments:

The dB family said...

Love it all!! Like yours, ours is a joyful jumble. Only difference is we have a fake tree. I have had a fake tree my entire life. I'm always a little envious/fascinated by those who get to have real ones.

Blessings!
Deborah

Anonymous said...

Joyfully jumbled, absolutely. I want the ornaments that tell the stories . . . the gifts that God has given me, so undeservedly.

The Hibbard Family said...

Ours is definitely a joyful jumble! No coordination here! We like lots of lights, and we have ornaments from when Doug and I were growing up. The only consistency can be found with the Calliope penguin family dough ornaments we have collected throughout the years.

dlefler said...

We do the same thing you do - our ornaments tell a story. We have an ornament from the Tower of London, from Ireland, shells from Myrtle Beach, etc.Nolan has a tennis ornament from the year he first started tennis lessons, Dennis has fish ornaments because he used to keep aquariums.

I also let the kids take over the decorating this year, so the tree was definitely a jumble. I think we had 10 ornaments on one branch, haha!