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Friday, December 23, 2011

Christmas tree family history

Every year when we decorate our Christmas tree, I have such a fun time reminiscing over each and every ornament. Jason's family has a tradition of giving each child an ornament every year that is meaningful in some way, and we've continued this tradition. There are so many happy memories, triumphs, and achievements on our Christmas tree--it's like a little window into our family history.

Instead of a star or an angel at the top of our tree, we have a Christmas mouse. He is special not because of where he came from (I can't even remember) but what he represents: that the love of Christ our Savior extends even to the most humble of all creation.
Living in Wyoming for three years was such a growing experience for our family. We moved there just four months after getting married and it was culture shock for both of us. Not only did we have to adjust to the law school lifestyle, but there was also isolation and loneliness--not to mention the weather. Oh, the weather... it was a hard first year, but something that our little family really benefited from. I have dear memories from our three years in Laramie.

Our first Christmas as a family of three was just magical.

Jason and I got this Mickey and Minnie ornament at Disneyland in 2009 when we took our very first family vacation. That trip was by the far the best trip we have ever had--and maybe ever will have.

We found out that the bank accepted our offer on my dream house just a week or two before Christmas in 2008, closed a few weeks after.

My mom gave us this little silver house the first Christmas we were married. You can't see, but it's engraved with "Kate and Jason, 2005".

There are so many other ornaments that are special to us--the girls' first Christmas ornaments, the little Jason and Kate snowmen we bought the year we were engaged, the set of Christmas symbol ornaments that my mother-in-law gave us when we got married, ornaments from the years we graduated... I look forward to adding to our Christmas tree family history every year!

1 comment:

Lisa said...

I love Jason's family's tradition of giving a special ornament to each child on Christmas day; we started doing the same after you and Jason got married. Sorry we didn't do it for you when you were growing up, but at least we can do it for our granddaughters!