Christmas Decorations

 I have had a nativity tree for many years.  I love having all of the ornaments dedicated to Christ's birth, and an Angel on top looking down.  I have  a little stuffed lamb that I place at the bottom, with a life size baby Jesus in a basket that I hook into the tree.   (It's actually Truman's porcelain doll with his blessing out fit on it, that looks more like Laila, so I am going to be making a new one for Truman  and switching clothes one of these days, but that's another story)  The entire room is filled with various nativities that I have collected over the years.   We also have a white stocking that we fill with notes about what gift we are giving the Savior.   I switch out my pictures in the living room as well, to Nativity pics, and  just fill the entire room  with this motif.

 My favorite nativity is my Precious Moments one.  This doesn't look like much...and parts of it are broken and have been glued back together, but it's definitely my favorite.   As I place it on the piano each year, I reflect back to mine and Wayne's first  Christmas together.  Like most newlyweds, we didn't have any money.  With Wayne in school, and me just  finishing my Student teaching, hoping to have a job someday, times were tight.  Our car needed tires and  we agreed that for Christmas we would get 4 tires, because that is all we could afford.  I was okay with that, because we were living on love, and it was all going to be great some day, but I was also a wee bit sad..... tires for Christmas?   Well my Wayne surprised me with one present on Christmas Day...it was this Precious Moments nativity that I have treasured every year since.  Our first  Christmas kind of felt like O'Henry's" Gift of the Magi" Story.  I sold my hair and got Wayne tires and he sold his car and got me a nativity.....or something like that.    Just kidding....but it did feel like a sacrifice, with a wonderful loving surprise at the end.

IN the entry way this year, I have set up vintage ornaments on trees from Grandma Butters  and old chip board houses like the Christmas village I grew up with.  The Garland up the stair way is filled with little kid ornaments and cousin ornaments from ornament exchanges long ago.    Every ornament placed reminds me of people I love.   Addison's Christmas Angel lives there as well.