Christmas Decorations 2008

I wanted to post about some of my favorite Christmas Decorations that we get to put up/out every year. We were able to decorate last weekend, after the BYU party, I made sure we did it before Randy left this weekend to help his parents move. So here they are, in no particular order.


1. The cloth/Velcro nativity set Randy's parents got us a few years ago. The kids love it, I love it cut they really can't break it, which means I can get mad at them for touching other things. Horrible I know.2. A wooden puzzle nativity that I made (or at least painted and stained) in Vancouver at a Super Saturday. I made them also for family members that I had to get presents for. It was a hit, everyone loves them. I need to find someone who can cut wood so I can make some more.

3. All of my nativity sets. I have a lot, this is just a few. There's a couple on the tree, I have a really big one but no room to set it out, at least till we move. It's gorgeous. The one on the right use to be my mom's. I think she made it at a Super Saturday a looooong time ago. I remember as a kid, getting to put it out. Baby Jesus is sooooo cute.

4. Our stockings. My mom got the 1st three the Christmas after McKenzie was born and I, as babies have joined our family, have found the others. Not identical, but cute nonetheless. We really like snowmen. I just can't wait till we have a better place to hang them, for now the wall works.

5. This ornament was one I picked from my mom's stash, Santa playing the piano, very fitting for my family growing up. Ignore the dust, apparently I have never dusted my ornaments, they just get wrapped back up and put into the box at the end of Christmas.

6. This wreath ornament was made by my cousin Sara (do you recognize it?). We were living in Virginia and my sis Lindsay, Sara and I went on a walk around the neighborhood after a big Christmas dinner and she found this little branch and made this while we were walking. She probably doesn't remember doing this, but my family kept it and when I grew up I picked it out. I was really impressed with her ability to make it, it holds some good memories for me.

7. This is another one from my mom's stash, I chose it cuz it was from her mom (grandma Lang), who is a lover of all things Halloween even incorporating it into Christmas. It's kinda hard to tell but it is really glittery. I miss my grandma, she had a great sense of humor.
8. This one is for Randy. The motorcycle ornament was given to him by his parents a few Christmases back. He's always loved motorcycles and when we moved to Vancouver the company he worked for would pay for a Harley rental for their annual "client schmoozing" which made him sooo happy. One day when we get settled (aka buy house, get out of debt), he will be able to get one of his very own, but for now this will have to do.

9. My aunt Vickie gave this to me one year (while I was in Wisconsin) that she made. It's a cute poem about remembering what Christ did for us. I put it front and center on our tree so we can remember throughout the season what Christmas is really about.

10. And this is the tree. I love trees. They have to be real though. I don't know if we will ever get a fake one, ya they are easier and in the long run cheaper, but I love the smell, the memories of picking them out (we use to go out as kids in either a tree farm or the woods and actually cut them down, I loved it), it's worth the work for one month to have it. Randy is not a fan of the topper, it's an angel I made in YW, it's falling apart but it works.

11. Last but not least our advent calendar. Randy's parents gave this to us along time ago and we have used it ever since. The kids love putting up the different characters and fight all of the time on who's turn it is to do it that day. It is sooo cute and I love that we can use it every year instead of having to buy a new paper one that we throw away.