"A house does not have to be perfect to be a home of joy, a child does not have to behave perfectly to love and be loved, and every moment of life does not have to be perfect to be of value. Too often, I realize, we fail to see the glorious reality of the simple joy that abounds in the seemingly mundane routine of day-to-day living. Instead, we tend to idolize the past, idealize the future, and devalue the present.... What better way to show our appreciation to Heavenly Father for what we have than to embrace our lives, albeit 'ordinary' and 'unexciting,' with joy?"

--Winnie Dalley; Ensign, March 1998

Friday, December 5, 2008

Ornaments


Its no secret around here that I love Christmas, especially Christmas trees. I always look forward to decorating our tree. I love unwrapping all the tissue-paper wrapped ornaments that have been stored away for eleven months- each ornament reminds me of another time, another person, or another place. It is a walk down memory lane and a trip I enjoy taking every year.


Some ornaments are still a personal favorite and have been since our first Christmas together (we have three fish like this and they are Justin's favorites)

Some are gifts from friends that we don't get to see nearly as often as we should.


Some remind us of our favorite holiday movie.

Some bring smiles to our faces and remind us of our first "children."





And, all together, the memories form a beautiful display.

2 comments:

TuneQueen said...

Beautiful tree!!

Jen said...

I feel the same way. I love decorating the tree. We listen to Christmas music, drink hot chocolate and unpack the ornaments. Mike teases me that if I add any more ornaments to the tree it's going to fall over. I guess I need two trees! There is something very magical about Christmas.