Our Christmas Ornament Tradition
My first Christmas ornament from 1971
I love this time of year when we break out the family traditions related to the Christmas season. One of the traditions that I love is when we put up the Christmas tree and decorate it with special ornaments. Each year, we give our kids a “special” ornament that represents something about their year. This year, our daughter received a canoe ornament from the Christmas shop in Mont Tremblant. This ornament will help her remember the fun we had on our family vacation to Canada this summer when she paddled around a small lake in a canoe with her brother. Our son received a ski gondola ornament also from the Christmas shop in Mont Tremblant. This ornament will help him remember our hike to the top of Mont Tremblant and the easy trip down in the gondola.
We’ve been doing this tradition since the kids were born, so they are starting to develop quite a collection of these “special” ornaments. Each year when we set up the tree, they take turns hanging up their ornaments and reminding us all about their ornaments and the memories that are associated with each of them. It’s a fun tradition!
They're almost as tall as the tree! How did that happen?
I can’t tell you that Leanne and I thought of this on our own, because that wouldn’t be true! My parents actually carried out the same tradition for my brothers and me. I still have all my ornaments from when I was a kid, and yes, I still hang them up every year. And I think my kids actually enjoy hearing the stories associated with my ornaments. As we were hanging up our ornaments this year, we wondered if the tradition would carry on to our grandchildren some day. I hope so!
Do you have any tree trimming traditions at your house? What is one of the “special” ornaments that you hang on your tree every year?