Just a Closer walk with Thee: Decorating for Jesus' Birthday

Yesterday morning Scott woke up bright and early to put up our ice-cycle lights on the house before he went to work (I had mentioned it to him a few days earlier, and for some reason he chose to do it at 6 a.m. on the coldest day of the year so far!) Somehow though, this year we were one strand short of them reaching all the way across the front of the house. I told him not to worry about it, that it looked fine - but when I pulled in the driveway after work he was up on the ladder putting up another strand of lights he picked up from the store! Even though I had told him not to worry about it, I was so happy that he had done that!! The lights looked great - AND he fixed a light bulb that had been out on the front porch for months - without me even saying a word about it! YAY! :)

To top it off, after he finished all that, he came inside and got all the Christmas decorations out of the attic for me!! I love decorating for CHRISTmas... but getting everything out of the attic is NO FUN! I always procrastinate putting up the tree because I dread pulling everything out of the attic every year! It made it so much more fun to decorate having everything already out of the attic and ready to go!! Three cheers for Scott!! Hip-hip-hurray!!! Hip-hip-hurray!!! Hip-hip-hurray!!!

While Mommy and Daddy were working on getting the CHRISTmas tree stood up, H-man was sporting his new boots (that just arrived in the mail) and having a lil' snack!

We then took a short intermission from the CHRISTmas decorating to eat supper and give H a bath. After his bath, I turned on the CHRISTmas music to set the mood for decorating! :) While I worked on fluffing the branches, H sat in his rocker and read a Christmas book! :)

After the branches were fluffed, it was time for H to go to bed so I could get down to the serious decorating! :) I first added some more lights to our "pre-lit" tree because one whole strand is out in the middle section of our tree. I like lots of lights on my tree anyway, so I load it up with lights!

Finally, I was ready to add the "treasures" to the tree! CHRISTmas tree ornaments are my absolute favorite thing about decorating for CHRISTmas each year! Each of my ornaments hold a treasured memory or represent a special time or thing in my life. As I unwrap each ornament and find its special spot on the tree, I am flooded with memories of years past.

As I placed these keepsakes on our tree, I decided to take a picture of my most favorite ones to share with you. They are ALL special to me, but these are the ones that hold extra special meaning:

Of course, this ornament represents the whole reason for CHRISTmas in the first place! Without baby Jesus, there would be no CHRISTmas!

This red bird ornament is in honor of my beloved grandmother, LuLu. She loved Red birds. Every time I see one I think of her.

This football ornament is my Dad's. When he was little, he got his first football from Santa - later he ended up playing football for Ole Miss.

I absolutely LOVE this ornament. As a young child, growing up on a pig farm is one of my fondest memories. This little ornament brings back so many fun memories of playing with those cute little baby pigs and my farmer Dad!

This beautiful Tiger ornament brings back all my great South Panola high school memories - Go Tigers!

My Aunt Faye gave me this ornament at an ornament shower I had when I got married - I love this Irish Santa playing the bagpipes! The Wardlaws are of Irish decent - and I had bagpipes at my wedding!!

I got this ornament for Scott our very first Christmas together - we were engaged that Christmas to be married that following February.

This is another ornament I received at my ornament shower before we got married. Its a reminder of the covenant vows Scott and I took on our wedding day - what a perfect and fun day that was!!

This log cabin ornament is one (of several) that Scott and I got while on our honeymoon to Gatlinburg! We stayed in a cute little cabin in the woods (hence the ornament) It was such a fun week - it even snowed while we were there!

This hunting Santa is an ornament I gave to Scott after we were married. Anyone who knows Scott knows how much he LOVES to hunt - so its only fitting that we have a Santa dressed in camo and holding a rifle hanging on our Christmas tree! :)

This next ornament is one I bought while on a work trip to Germany - it was only my second time out of the country - and first time to travel that far with work.

This is a ski boot ornament Scott and I got on our first ski trip together to Breckenridge, CO. It was right after we got home from this trip that we found out we were pregnant! I had always wanted to go to Colorado skiing - and this was my first time there! We had a blast!!

This precious ornament is one I got on my first trip to Alaska! Its an eskimo doll ornament hand-made by native Alaskans. I LOVE ALASKA!

This is one of many ornaments we got for Holston's first CHRISTmas! Oh what a special Christmas that was!! It will go down as one of the most special CHRISTmases EVER!

This is another of my FAVORITE ornaments from Holston's first Christmas! My sweet cousin, Jenny, gave us the little kit to make this ornament. Holston was only a month and a half old his first Christmas. I remember I attempted several times to do his handprint on this ornament. Finally, I decided to wait and try when he was asleep - it worked - he never knew he was even making a handprint! :) This one will always be a very special treasure to me!

This precious sock monkey santa is an ornament my mom gave Holston for his first birthday. We love sock monkey around here! :)

By the time I finally finished decorating the tree last night, not a creature was stirring.... not even a mouse. :) I was able to sit back, in the quiet of the night, and enjoy the beauty of our tree full of a lifetime of memories....

What fun memories still await us... yet to be added to this treasure tree!