What's on your Chistmas tree?

A few years ago Rob and I attended a Christmas party at the very elegant home of some friends of ours. We had never been to their home at Christmas before. We were both immediately drawn to all of the Nutcrackers in their home. They had beautiful Nutcrackers of all shapes and sizes. They adorned the house so perfectly and I could only imagine how they had been collected over the years. I thought that perhaps some of the smaller more unique ones had been purchased on trips overseas and that maybe some were gifts from friends. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

Rob commented to the hostess that he loved her vast collection and she laughed and said, "Oh, those aren't ours. Nutcrackers are the theme my decorator picked this year and he designed the room. I'm sure they will all go back into a box of his after Christmas."

I have thought about that so many times over the years. And how many of you have been to homes where the trees had themes? Trees that could only have silver ornaments or were only decorated with angels. Did you know that forest green is so out this year? Kelly Green is supposedly the green of 2011. If the ribbon on your tree isn't that shade of green, then I don't even know what to say to you.

Fortunately, I love my crazy tree that has no theme whatsoever and is filled with hand prints of my kids, ornaments from friends, terrible paint on glass ornaments, and other knick knacks. I love it and I truly feel as if our tree has just begun. Rob and I have only been married 6 years and we didn't bring many ornaments into our marriage with us. I can't wait to watch our tree grow and watch the ornaments that are placed on it tell the story of our lives.

This year has been particularly sentimental. I have shed many tears looking at our tree.

We bought this for our American Fox hound 4 years ago. This is our first Christmas without him, but we will always keep his ornament on our tree. What a reminder of such a special pet.

We went on a trip to Disney World in 2007. I was 18 weeks pregnant and had just found out I was having a girl. We bought this ornament on our trip that fall. It was the first thing we bought for our baby girl. I have been so sentimental looking at this particular ornament this year and knowing that the unknown baby turned out to be my precocious, redheaded, and creative almost 4 year old. Oh, and Ariel happens to be her very favorite princess.

We moved to Kansas City in January of 2009. A dear friend of mine had a brunch for me right before I moved. I was pregnant with Will and very scared. She gave me this ornament of the Montgomery skyline and told me to always think of home whenever I hung it on our tree. I have been particularly homesick this Fall. I want to be with my cousin Elliot badly. I want to be there to cook her a meal, watch her kids, or just curl up and watch a chick flick while eating Goobers. Seeing this ornament makes me think of her and how happy I will be to go home and see her and the rest of my family.

And finally...... my favorite. I have cried a lot over these two ornaments this year. These were the very first Christmas ornaments Rob and I received as a couple. They were from my beloved Grandmother who passed away this summer. She told us that they were two lovebirds and to always hang them on the same branch of our tree. I didn't want to burst her bubble and tell her that they were snowmen and not lovebirds. She would just laugh and tell me that she knew that and to let her have her fun. These snowmen will always have a special place on our tree.

Who needs a Nutcracker theme when you have a story. A narrative. A timeline of your life waiting to be rediscovered every year. I can't wait to see what our tree looks like 30 years from now. I hope it will be filled with even more hand prints, tacky ornaments, and memories of loved ones who helped us fill our tree.