O Christmas Tree

I love decorating our Christmas tree each year. David and I grew up with our families getting a live tree and we like to do the same. Nothing beats the smell of a live tree in your house! We had good intentions of going to cut down our own tree (closest farm is about an hour away), but with all our travels this month we decided to pick one up at our local Home Depot. It's an interesting tree, but it still holds all the meaning that I love. I absolutely love decorating with ornaments that have a special meaning. I always find an ornament on each vacation we take so it's fun to look back at those with wonderful memories. There are a few on the tree that came from our childhoods as well as special gifts from friends. My Grandma Lois did a neat thing and made an ornament for me every year and I got them when I got married (she did this for all the grandchildren). And for the last three years I have bought an ornament for Ryan usually with the theme of what he was into the past year. Hopefully his wife will appreciate them one day!! So here is our tree...the star leans a little to the right and it's lacking in lights, but I love it not for it's beauty, but for it's memories:

A special ornament my Grandpa Howie made:

And my new favorite, Ryan's first ornament that he made for me at class: