A Few Decorations...

We are all snuggled in our little Christmas decorated home. Love all the good feelings and memories this time of year. I decorate in the interior of our home. Claude decorates the exterior. 

This year I took a few pictures of some of the decorations as I strolled down memory lane. So much of our decorating is tied up in 54 years of marriage. It has changed over the years as we moved to different places, as our children grew, as family and friends have shared things that decorate our home each year. I really believe this is why we love to be in our decorated home for the month of December. We feel all that love over these many years together.

Claude finished the exterior on Wednesday, December 4th. Rain was anticipated in the evening. It is hard to tell in this little picture, but Claude has poinsettia garland around the front door with lights in it. There are four wreaths, one by the front door and one on each side of the windows to our bathroom and one hanging from the flag pole base between the garage doors. The little Christmas trees are nestled between the end of the bushes and the walkway to the front door. Along the base of the bushes are the snowflakes on sticks. On top of the bushes, Claude has added lights this year. There are two little greenery decorations hanging from the two garage lights. You can't see the big green Christmas bulb hanging from the shepherd's hook by the study window. Of course, the main feature is the nativity. It is always a must in the front yard. 

I took a few pictures of some of the interior decorations. This first is a berry wreath. We visited my sister, Junie, when she lived in Ohio. She had a wreath like this on her front door. I told her how beautiful I thought it was. When we returned home to Maryland, I received this wreath from Junie. It has hung in our home ever since at Christmas time. 

This is our very first Nativity. We purchased it in Southern California our second Christmas. The little lambs at the front have come loose over the years and have been played with my our grandmonsters. We love our 53 year old Nativity.

This ceramic Christmas tree was seen by my mother on a trip she and Papa made. Mimi fell in love with the tree. Papa purchased it for her. It has been mine since 2005 when we moved my parents to Kentucky as Mimi had Alzheimer's and Papa needed help caring for her. 

To the left of the ceramic tree a frame given to me by Mr. Goertschel. He was our next door neighbor and owned a jewelry store. This frame had a mirror in it. When the mirror broke, I inserted this favorite picture of Mary holding Baby Jesus. The Noel sign on the right was given to me by my Sweet Hubby. 

On the table is a gingerbread family made and painted by Mimi. She gave each of her daughter's a set one Christmas. The gingerbread house was made by me. I made one for Mimi like this. It is plastic canvas and yarn.

Our tree is a joy. It is loaded with ornaments from our 54 years together. They are homemade ornaments, White House Christmas ornaments for the 20 years we lived in Maryland and Claude worked in Washington, DC, ornaments collected from our travels over our 54 years, and ornament gifts from family and friends. Hanging each one brings back lots of good memories and fills our home with the love of family and friends.

The beautiful tree skirt was made for us by Bevy Myers. Fred and Bevy are very dear friends we loved to motorcycle with over the years. I played the piano for their wedding. 

There are several Christmas Nativities on our entertainment center. This first is nesting dolls from Russia. Andie and I visited a Nicholas and Alexandra exhibit at the University of Delaware. I purchased them there. To the right is Noah's ark. Santa Clause is on the opposite side. 

This Nativity was purchased by Bonnie, Claude's mom when we were on a trip to Israel. Omar, in old Jerusalem, had a shop with all kinds of things carved from olive wood. This is carved from olive wood. When Bonnie passed away, the family felt Claude and I should receive her olive wood Nativity. We are very grateful for it. 

We purchased this little olive wood Nativity from Omar in Jerusalem.

The Marx family gave us the delicate white Nativity. The cloth Nativity on the right is from Guatemala. We purchased it in Pennsylvania when we went to see the life-sized replica of the Tabernacle the children of Israel made. The gift shop there had crafts from all over the world. The proceeds go back the country from which they were made to support their economy. 

At the top of our tree is a purple glass ball. This ornament was my favorite from our family Christmas tree when I was a little girl. When Claude and I married, my mother graciously gave me this ornament. It is been our tree topper ever since. It is very old, like me!! To the right is a white Moravian star. It is very tiny. We bought it in Old Salem, North Carolina. 

This is Claude putting the topper on the tree for us. 

I made these ornaments in 1980. They are pictures of our three children that year. Jake would have been 5, Andie 7 and Nissa 9. I made two other sets and they were Christmas gifts for my parents and Claude's parents that year. 

Hayden was born November 2004. This hand and footprint ornaments were made by Andie for his first Christmas. Hayden is now 20 years old. 

Each year I like to put the ornaments we have gotten from our travels that year in a cluster. This year we finished our Route 66 trip from St. Louis to Santa Monica. The top left is the Route 66 logo. To the right is a large hand-painted ball from Palo Duro Canyon in Texas. This is such a cool ornament. The empty ball is painted through the hole in the top by hand. They first use something to drawn the design to be painted on the inside. Then they carefully paint the inside of the ball with delicate brushes. I loved this ornament and its story. Below that is a gold ornament with hot air balloons from the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. And, the left lower corner is a red tree from the Grand Canyon. 

We also made a trip to Italy in February 2024. Starting at the top left is a replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. To the right, the toy soldier was from Florence, Italy. Below that is a yellow lemon from the Amalfi Coast. to the left of that is a lace star from Burano, Italy (Venice) and to the left of that are glass beads from Murano, Italy (Venice). 

It brings me so much happiness to wake up in the morning and turn on the Christmas tree lights. They stay on all day. If we leave our home, they are turned off. Sometimes, on those nights when I don't sleep well, I love to go to the living room, turn on the Christmas tree lights, and bask in all their goodness. There may come a time when I can't decorate the house. I hope I will always be able to get my tree up so I can at least enjoyed all that it brings to December for me. I hope I can always have our Nativities out as the Savior is why we celebrate Christmas. December is a good month. I have learned to get the gifts purchased by Thanksgiving or shortly after. Then I can take whatever December throws at me and find strength and peace in all the memories that surround us in our little home.

Merry Christmas Season to All!!