The Tree

So, the big hunt for the perfect tree was on yesterday, and we chopped down a pretty good one, if I do say so myself. Now, before you form any opinions, let me say that my idea of the perfectly decorated Christmas tree is different from my ideas of long ago. Before kids, I had a color coordinated tree - blue lights, gold garland, blue and gold balls. It all matched, it all looked...perfect.
The Bixler tree of yesteryear looks nothing like the Bixler tree of today. My "perfect tree" of today is...well, it's a mess. And I know it. And I LOVE it, my dears! *love it*! Not one ornament is the same. Not one. Each ornament holds a memory - each tells a story. Unpacking the ornaments each year is like putting together a scrapbook of our favorite photos! And, looking at our tree each year is like looking at a special scrapbook, but all the pages at once - it's really something! I love that!
So, here's a picture of Angel in front of our tree. (Our Christmas Angel - ha!)
Smile for the camera Angel! From this angle, it looks like Angel, our Papillion, is really big...but, she's only a little under 10 pounds. Doesn't she look like a black and white fox?

One of our traditions is to get the kids a different ornament each year for Christmas. Each year's ornament describes something special about the year. These are some of Bridgette's ornaments over the years.A few have to do with figure skating - some for passing different levels, some for being in competitions or passing into Jr. Figure Skating Club. There's a wolf, because we went to the International Wolf Society in Ely, MN and she really loved it one year. One ornament is of a black and white dog -that's last year's - when we got Angel.

These are some of Aaron's ornaments. Some of his from his earlier days are characters - Batman & Robin, Buzz Lightyear; then, when he gets older there are more grown up ones - there's a boat to symbolize when we went on a cruise of the Apostle Islands, there's a campfire when he was old enough to start the campfires when we went camping, another is a deer the first year he went deer hunting, he got a fishing lure ornament one year when he went on a fishing trip with his dad and his dad's buddies. All great memories we get to unpack each year and relive. Pretty cool!

Some ornaments are to commemorate special times we've had. Mike and I take a few days at the end of December/beginning of January. This is from one of those trips - to Two Harbors, MN. We had a great time - I wrote a few key words on the back and the year to remind us of the special bonding we had.

And this is from our family trip to the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN - the kids had a blast here! We try to get ornaments whenever we go camping or exploring different places. It beats other trinkety things. (Ornaments and sweatshirts and tee-shirts - those are our souvenirs of choice.) I try to remember to write the date and maybe jot a note or two on the back with a Sharpie.

A few years in a row, the Bixler kids made ornaments for all of the cousins - we made sure to make one for our tree, too! Here's one of my favorites - "Twinkle" out of skulpy clay.

We had to commemorate our trip to Thunder Bay, Ontario somehow - we went to Panorama Amethyst Mines and mined a BOATLOAD of amethyst...one of my all-time favorite vacation activities. We made little amethyst crystal ornaments for the cousins. They were awesome!

When the kids were really little, we painted paper mache' snowmen, and decorated them with beads and buttons and material scarves.

These bead and ribbon and thread ribbon candy ornaments were easy, but cute, too.

These black velvet folded cardstock things were kind of a pain - we covered them in material and added the tassel...I wouldn't do them again if I was paid! The black swirly hearts in the corner were skulpy, though - and they were fun!

These adorable snowmen are crushed aluminum cans (if you saw the back, you'd see the top and bottom of the can) painted white and decorated with Sharpies.

These are only some of the ornaments the cousins have reciprocated with. We have a talented family. I used to be crafty, but somehow that desire to be crafty has dried up as my kids have grown. Maybe it will come back, as they grow up.

Some of the ornaments on my tree are those buttons that you get when your kids are in sports - I have a button of when Aaron was in baseball (I just attached a hook to the back) and some from when Bridgette was in her ice shows.

We also have an ornament to remember Copper, our former dog. She was our first "Baby". She was with us for 16 Christmases. Last year was the first Christmas she wasn't with us. So, this ornament was hung last year to honor her.

And, this ornament was Mike's Grandma Helen's. We bought it for her a few years before she died. It is hand blown glass. She used to hang it right by her sink.

You know, whenever God took the Israelites through something, He used to have them build an altar - pile up stones - so that when their children saw that pile of rocks, they would ask their parents, "What are those rocks piled up there for?" and then the parents would tell them of God's faithfulness. Our Christmas tree is kind of like that altar. Our kids, annually, know the stories behind the ornaments. (Behind their ornaments, anyhow....) And, when they don't know, they ask. And, it reminds me of all God has done for us throughout the years.

Life is hard. Being a wife is hard. Being a mom is hard. This day in-day out stuff can get boring and tedious. Sometimes, it feels like it would be a really good idea to just crawl back into bed and not come back out. Just for a day. Okay, maybe a week. And, you know, sometimes it's good to be reminded of all of the good stuff that has happened.

Our memories can be so short.

God is faithful.

And He is good...all the time.