Oh Christmas Tree

On the first day of December, we opened the first advent from our phamily advent calendar and decorated our tree. The first to go up was Bruce's handprint ornament. We were surprised at how big his hand had gotten in just one year! I'm so glad we made this keepsake! I'm tempted to do another this year but is that silly, doing it every year? :P

penguin ornament from bryce

muir woods leaf ornament

We had a couple new ornaments to hang this year. One was a very cute penguin for Bruce, which was a Christmas gift from my friend, Bryce. And speaking of Bryce, I saw a photo of her Christmas tree last year and absolutely loved the fact that each ornament of hers had a meaning behind it. Whether it was from a family trip or a gift, each one brought back special moments from the past. I'm guessing this is normal for most families but I hadn't heard of it before. Growing up, our Christmas tree had ornaments but only a handful were special handmade keepsakes which are still at my dad's house. So this year, I tried my best to remember to look for ornaments when we traveled to new places. Unfortunately, most of the time I either forgot or some places didn't have one that I liked... except when we visited Muir Woods! 

This leaf ornament contains an actual Cottonwood leaf! Pretty neat, huh? ;) And I like how it says where we bought it from to help me remember years and years later.

our top two-thirds of the tree was filled with ornaments

and the bottom third was bare

Bruce loved the plastic snowflakes, taking them off the tree and placing them back in between the branches so we knew better than to hang the glass ornaments where he was able to reach. ;) But look! The bottom half has our new tree skirt! I love the scallops, the quilted details, and how it matches our stockings. And guess who got lucky at Target the other day? I did! There was one stocking left so I grabbed it before other stocking shoppers got it. Woohoo! :D

christmas wouldn't be complete without Mickey and Minnie

and a few snowflakes

Have you decorated your tree? Do you have special ornaments that take you down memory lane?