I love, love, love putting our Christmas tree up!
I’m a girl who likes (i.e. is obsessed with) tradition.
I want to do everything just like the year before and the year before that.
We always get a real Frasier Fir from the farmer’s market in downtown Minneapolis.
We walk up and down the rows of trees, listening closely for one (the one) to call out to us.
Okay, we don’t really hear the trees talking out loud.
But I always feel drawn to a certain one and so does my second grader.
This year, it didn’t take long to find our little gem. She was right there waiting.
And now she’s in our living room, all dressed up in twinkling white lights,
gingham ribbon, meaningful ornaments and a big silver star on top.
On our tree, every ornament has a story.
As I was growing up, my parents gave me and my brother ornaments each Christmas
that represented something special that had happened that year.
And now my husband and I do that for our kids, too.
There’s a Captain Hook ornament to commemorate our 2008 trip to Disney World.
There’s the Grinch in a chimney from the year we saw that Seuss story on the stage.
And a sweet little lamb from my littlest guy’s first Christmas.
There are also ornaments we’ve received from other loved ones over the years.
Including this rainbow-riding little angel (pictured),
given to me by my Nana and Baba when I was a kid.
She is my all-time favorite and makes me heart skip a beat whenever I pull her out of the box.
I feel so lucky to have such a beautiful tree here
to add sparkle to the coming days,
helping us all feel more merry and bright.
(how do you decorate for the holidays? got any special traditions? i’d loooooove to know!)
