A Sentimental Tour of My Favorite Christmas Ornaments

Merry Christmas Eve Eve, friends!  After coming out of hiatus, I've just got the blogging itch! So, today I'd like to invite you into my Christmasy home via this post.  Would you care to see some of my favorite Christmas ornaments from years past and our newest ornamental additions? Fantastic, because I'd love to show you around our Christmas tree!

Christmas Past

The first ornaments Jason and I received as a married couple...

My parents have the tradition of giving us a new ornament each Thanksgiving to hang on our tree that Christmas.  This was our first!  Our first married Christmas was our first Christmas together.  Jason and I went on our first date in April of 1998, got engaged on that Fourth of July, and were married about four months later in mid-November.  I remember how exciting it was celebrating our first holidays together as husband and wife!  This hung from a much smaller tree in our apartment back then.  Times have changed, along with the tree this beloved ornament hangs from, yet it will always be the most special ornament on our tree!

My Aunt Ednah made our wedding cake and personalized this ornament in its likeness!

Shortly after we got married I mentioned to Jason how much I'd always wanted to see The Nutcracker. That December he surprised me with really great seats at a performance in the most stunning venue in our area.  We got all dressed up and enjoyed every moment of that special Christmas date!  I should add that we were poor 20 year olds at the time, making the gift all that more special and grand!

This is an ornament from my childhood.  These type of ornaments hung on my parents' and grandparents' trees.  It takes me back to the Christmases of my youth each time I see it!  Did you have any ornaments like this on your tree growing up?

Princess' 1st Christmas!  The precious, beautiful baby girl who made me a mommy!  What a Christmas season that was!  She was born less than a month before Christmas.  We certainly had much to celebrate that year!  Jason hung pink Christmas lights on the bushes in front of our home that year in celebration and announcement that our baby girl had arrived!  Such sweet memories this ornament represents!

Little One arrived completing our family!  What a joy she brought to us all that Christmas!  The photo was taken on her first halloween (just a few weeks after she was born) when both of our girls dressed as princesses.  I couldn't find a newborn costume so she wore an adorable princess onesie and crown baby cap.  What a precious year that was!

Little One made this shortly after turning 6 years old.  It makes me smile each time I see it!  She was so small that she says while making this she imagined it would cover the whole tree!  It never quite did that, but it does hold a sweet and special spot all these years later.

Black Belt!  This ornament was actually given to Little One in congratulations of earning her black belt to be displayed on a stand.  However, we thought it'd be even more special if we used it on our tree each Christmas! I couldn't be more proud of her for achieving that goal!  Small, but mighty is our littlest sweetie!

My husband is my personal handy man and along with this ornament he became an honorary graduate of Handyman Academy! ;)  I am so proud of him for all the effort that he puts into maintaining our home! Each time we experience problems, whether it be automotive or plumbing, he does his best to fix it and only hires help if absolutely necessary.  I picked up this ornament for him a few years back when we had a ton of home catastrophes that he tended to.  When I see this ornament my heart is filled with gratitude for the ways he provides for our family, both monetarily and physically.  What a husband God has blessed me with!

Our Animal Print Mickey ornament was purchased during our first stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge as Disney Vacation Club Members.  I bought one for us and one for my parents who joined us on that memorable WDW vacation.  Seeing it brings back a flood of magical memories and is a reminder of my number one Disney dream of joining DVC coming true!



Christmas Present
New ornaments added to our collection this Christmas

As previously mentioned, my parents gift us a new ornament annually.  This year they gave Jason and I the cutest vintage Mickey and Minnie ornaments!  I couldn't adore them any more than I do!

Lake Okoboji, one of our favorite spots in our home state of Iowa!  We enjoyed a lovely stay there in June and I knew picking up this sweet ornament would remind us of all that fun in the sun!

Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri has been on our travel wishlist for many years.  We were overjoyed to spend a day there over the summer!  This beautiful ornament features a commemorative stamp honoring Walt Disney, "Marceline's Favorite Son".  The stamp was released at a First Day of Issue ceremony in Marceline on September 11, 1968, one day before it's nationwide release.  I'm so happy to have added such a neat historical piece to our Disney collection!

This year I had the pleasure of checking something off my bucket list when we saw the world's largest tree at Sequoia National Park!  We split that day between Sequoia & King's Canyon National Parks.  I didn't know much about King's Canyon before our trip, but I'm so glad my trip researching pro of a hubby learned about it and took us there, because it was absolutely amazing!  This ornament reminds me of one of my favorite days of 2016!  I look forward to sharing all the details from it in a trip report next year!

When choosing an ornament from Disneyland Jason spotted this one and it sums up our trip so well as we were there during Halloween season!  Disneyland transforms Haunted Mansion into a Nightmare Before Christmas extravaganza for the entire holiday season.  It was jaw dropping to see the attention to detail and a completely different experience for us since Disney World doesn't make over their rides in holiday themes.  This ornament reminds me of Halloween fun at Disneyland and of much I long to return for Christmastime at Disneyland someday!  It can wait a bit though as next Christmas season we'll be "home" at Walt Disney World! *Happy sigh!*

The last ornament I'm sharing is one featuring some of our favorite memories from this year's family vacation.  Like those in the Christmas Past section above, in years to come it is sure to remind us of precious family memories!  My heart is full!


Christmas Future
Stay Tuned! We'll see what 2017 and beyond have in store! ;)

For anyone interested, our tree is a Slim Killington Pine.  We got it at Menards several years back and I still love it!  It doesn't take up much space, yet feels like a full size tree.  Its branches also look a lot more realistic than some artificial  trees we've had in the past.  O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, how lovely are your branches! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I'd love to hear about your favorite Christmas ornament(s) in the comments below! Merry Christmas, dear readers & cherished friends!

Join me in the adventures to come!

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