Christmas Decorating

I was looking at our tree the other day, and I decided that I love our eclectic mix of ornaments. Some people have themes for their trees like horses, or trains or angels or just a specific color theme. But, I like a mix of everything.

We have some ornaments that we picked out and purchased ourselves.

And some that were handmade like the bells you see above.



Of course we have many that were given to us as gifts. The one above was given to Mike and I on our first Christmas as a married couple. And as a teacher for many years I received quite a stash of ornaments from my kids. Each time I hang one up it reminds me of that particular student and I wonder what he or she is up to today.

My favorite part of our tree is our topper. It is an Ethiopian cross that Mike's brother, Juan, brought back from Ethiopia several years ago.

What are some of your favorite ornaments on your tree?

By the way-- we are in the middle of a blizzard here in Oklahoma. Every interstate from boarder to boarder is shut down. We've had 11 inches here which is a state record. I think because we're not used to this type of weather, we're all under-prepared. People are stranded all over the state-- we know several personally. We're all safe and sound in our home, but we had to cancel our Christmas Eve plans with my parents which was a bummer. Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to leave our house tomorrow. It's a historic first Christmas for our Lucas and I'm sure he'll hear about it for years to come!