My "Two Cents Worth": O Christmas Tree

One of my fondest memories of childhood is putting up our Christmas tree. I always love adding the ornaments and looking at each one, trying to remember where they came from. Still today it is one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season. We have this little artificial tree, I call it my Charlie Brown tree. We like to think of our tree as more than just a Christmas tree, it is more like a Memory tree. Our tree is somewhat like a scrapbook of my life from my childhood to now. On our tree hangs an assortment of ornaments. Some of them that were my mothers and others that belonged to my grandparents. A few have been giving to me my family and friends over the years and I even have some from my years as a pre-school teacher. I have ornaments from vacations we have taken and some to commerate special events in our lives. They are all precious to me, but the most precious are those made by my children. I look at each individaul ornament that they have made and I can remember how they were at that age. Our children grow up fast and don't stay with us forever, which makes these little keepsakes all the more imporant to me.

I want to share our story, so let me take you on a tour of our memory tree.

Of course there are the ornaments for each one of our babies in Heaven. These were giving to us by others, but what a special way to represent our babies and their importance to our family.

Then I have the button ornament that my step-daughter made for me. It is not the only one she has made and each of them is special to me.

When I was a child I remember that every year McDonalds gave out ornaments in their happy meals and I still have mine. I love my Flounder and Sebastion from The Little Mermaid movie.

I love the ones that my Caroline made for me at school and at church. There are a lot of them and each one reminds me of a time in life that we have shared together

One of my favorites is the one Grace made last year to celebrate being in remission from cancer. Praise the Lord for that!!!

I especially love the bell and candy cane that belonged to both of my grandmothers. I miss them both so much and each time I place their ornaments on the tree I always think of them.

I also have an apple ornament I made when I was in first or second grade in school. I don't really remember making it, but when I see it I think back to my school days.

I also have the Smores commerating our first Christmas as a married couple and the fact that I was pregnant with Caroline that year. What a year of changes that was!!!

The reindeer ornament that my Grandfather gave me just one year before he passed away. I will forever cherish that reindeer.

My Star Teacher ornament giving to me by a student about 13 years ago. I still remember the student that gave it to me and I often wonder where he is now.

There are the handprint snowman family ornaments that my grandchildren made and gave to us just last year. I look forward to seeing how much they grow in the years to come.

Last but not least there is the nail ornament giving to me several Christmases ago by my cousin Amanda. The nail is to remind us that our Lord Jesus was born to die for our sins. May this be something we remember always.