Tree Trimming

Christmas is by far the greatest time of year. You can't help but have a smile on your face when you see the houses all decorated with lights, hear the music and are surrounded by friends and family. Christmas has always been a HUGE deal in our family, especially the Christmas tree (or treeS for my mom).



Our tree this year.

 Every year before putting up the tree my family would go out to dinner then my brother and I would be able to pick out our yearly Christmas ornament. This, along with collecting ornaments all the places we travel to (a tradition Brett and I also carry on) leads to lots and lots of ornaments. I alone have 2 boxes of ornaments and each and every one of those ornaments has a story, which I love!

Over the weekend, Brett and I went and got our tree to decorate and even though this is the 3rd tree we have decorated together, I still feel the need to tell him the story of all my favorite ornaments (not sure this will ever stop, sorry honey). Here are just a few of my favorite ornaments with the stories behind them.

This ornament makes the sound of popcorn popping and it is truly never Christmas until we hear this sound in the house. When my brother and I divided up ornaments I had to fight for this one. I'm sure we will have to arrange some sort of "shared custody" at some point.

This one is "Santa's answering machine" and has a message that I still to this day have memorized... "HO HO HO, I'm out packing my sleigh now so be sure to leave your Christmas wishes. Wait for the jingle bells!"

Who didn't love Fraggle Rock growing up? This one has fallen off the tree a few times and is broken on the bottom but I can't seem to throw it out!

As I said, Brett and I pick up an ornament from every place we travel to. This one is from when we got engaged in Georgetown so I know it will always have a special place on our tree for many years to come!

Ohhhhh the pickle! If you don't know the story of the pickle, it is an old German tradition where the pickle is hidden in the tree and the children search for it on Christmas morning and whoever finds it gets a special surprise. Still to this day my brother and I fight tooth and nail for that pickle.

I don't know why I love this one so much. I think I even got it from a Happy Meal. It just so reminds me of those late 80s-early 90s toys that were so great.

If you only knew how many Nutcracker/ballet ornaments we had you would be embarrassed for us. But in the Will household, it isn't Christmas without Nutcracker!

My grandmother (dad's mom) would make the most beautiful ornaments. This is just one of the many I have on my tree.

Got to give a shout out to Brinkley!

Speaking of Brinkley, I couldn't help but share this picture. Brinkley loves when the tree gets up because it provides the best "hiding" spots for his bones/toys. It never fails, we always find a few under the tree.

So there you have it! So glad to be kicking off another Christmas season.