« love thursday: creating family traditions ... even when they make no sense »
I call this my "Heart Partridge."
So we arrived back from England late Saturday night, and spent Sunday working through jetlag (read: doing absolutely nothing). I did have one goal for the day, however:
The Christmas tree had to go up.
Putting up the Christmas tree is quite possibly my favourite holiday tradition, and Marcus and I have worked really hard to ensure that the event includes various rites and rituals. First, Marcus puts on a mix of Christmas music (which can include anything from Nat King Cole to Bing Crosby to James Brown to Run DMC). And then, the tree trimming begins. In our house, we have three rules:
1) We collect ornaments of all kinds, whether they are store-bought, an original Alex creation or hand-made by one of the various children in our lives. Even unusual gift-tags are kept. We don't care. If it's decorative, it works.
2) Each year, we buy at least one more ornament.
3) Without exception, they all go on the tree.
As a result, our tree looks ... well, INSANE. We all participate in the tree trimming, and other than the occasional encouragement to "fill in the gaps!" the ornaments simply fall where they may. Some of the most notable:
This is one of a set of really cheap ornaments Marcus and I bought when we first got married. We had no ornaments, and we just wanted to make our tree look a little less ... sad. After 7 years, these particular ornaments are starting to look pretty sad themselves, but, they all go on the tree.
A gingerbread house ornament, with the words "Celebrate Adoption" emblazoned on a roof eave. Not exactly something I would've purchased myself, and I'm pretty sure this was given to us by a well-meaning friend the Christmas after Alex was born. So yes, every year, it goes on the tree.
This tiny nutcracker was actually a gift-wrap embellishment on a Christmas present given to us a few years ago. Of course, it has to go on the tree.
A few years ago, I noticed we had an inordinate number of angel ornaments -- so I decided that every year, at least one of the ornaments we bought had to be an angel ornament. This one is last year's.
This year? I bought three. And they all go on the tree.
And finally, once the tree is completely finished, we do our Annual Family-Portrait-in-a-Christmas-Ball:
(See previous portraits here.)
* * * * * * *
Happy Love Thursday, everyone. Please leave your links to your images and stories of love in the comments section, below.
And may you spend the last few weeks of 2008 creating your own family traditions.
Song: The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth, the duet performed by David Bowie and Bing Crosby. This particular version remains my very favourite song of the season.
Thu, December 4, 2008
Reader Comments (48)
I love the reflection photo!
I totally thought of you when I took this one:
http://flickr.com/photos/ourcrazylife/3081216318/
your tree looks much like i remember our christmas tree from my childhood looked! lots and lots of ornaments ALL on the tree :)
happy love thursday!
I love the idea of a family portrait in the reflection of an ornament - what a cool idea!
Karla
http://bilderurlivet.rular.se/blogg/lovethursday.html
Amazing shots and motives... but the portrait X-mas ornament was pretty inspiring.
Wonderful warm images. Not exactly a 'family' holiday image..but one I thought I'd share:
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/index.php?showimage=609
What a pretty tree! With all the little extras...even those that you don't really really want...lovely memories! Teehee!!
We are off to look for a tree this afternoon...with an axe...and christmas hats...and a camera! We just adopted a little boy who is 20 months old and it will be his first real christmas...as his birthparents did not celebrate it. so excited!!! Love the family portrait! xx
I *heart* the so-called insanity of your tree...just like what a family tree should look like IMHO. And that family portrait should *so* be your Christmas card/greeting!
This week, two things to celebrate at my place: the birthday of my OH and my blog's 2nd year:
Happy Birthday to P and to Bleeding Espresso
P.S. This post isn't listed in your Love Thursday category :)
My html came out :(
Here's the link:
http://bleedingespresso.com/2008/12/love-thursday-happy-birthday-to-p-and-to-bleeding-espresso.html
i'm not a particularly christmassy person, but you guys make me want to sing carols and drink egg nog sitting by your tree... i'm on my way :)
That's what my family tree looked like--crazy, patched together, and full of memories and love. My mom never failed to put up even the 'sad' ornaments, like the ones that her mother had made out of cardboard and tin foil for my parents when they first got married and were too poor to buy any ornaments. Or the teddy bear that my brother and sister burned part of (we put a band-aid on his leg).
What a wonderful celebration of family history! Happy holiday season!