Decorating and Celebrating Christmas

We got our Christmas tree today and I have been Mrs. Clausing the house with great delight in my soul. There is something so precious about putting ornaments on the tree that each have a wonderful little memory to them. Here's our tree:



And here are some of my favorite memories:

The Star:



Right after Marni gave us the boot, it came time to decorate for Christmas, and my dad, Christi and I realized we had absolutely nothing. Dad sent Christi and me out to get Christmas decorations. We had a great time together, and we hated each other then. I always remember that as a sweet, special time together. This is one of the ornaments we bought then.


The Cheese-Grater:



Same Christmas, We forgot a tree topper. Dad was delirious with a little cold. He told us to put the cheese-grater on top. We did, it was lovely, comical, and actually made pretty light patterns on the ceiling. We did that for years - I even did that through college. Now I have a cute little one as a reminder of beautiful silliness.


The Little Wooden Box/Basket:



A gift from Princess Erin Straube, since married with a new last name I forget. She gave all of us one - us being our "forever inseparable friendship group." She painted "Christmas 2000" on the back. Its adorable. I am still reminded of her innocent sweetness and still love her for it.



The Beaded Golden Heart:



Amber's Mom, Robin Talbott, gave this to me at my wedding shower to remind me that love is a beautiful gift.


And Ryan's Favorite - The Little Silver Laptop: enough said =o)