Christmas Ornaments...and other Traditions

When I was about 12 or 13, I had a Young Women's leader who told us about a tradition that she and her husband started together when they got married. It's one that I never forgot and all these years later Ric and I have done since we've been together.

Each year, we talk about something significant that happened in our lives together and choose an ornament to represent that event. Would you believe that we now have 9 different ornaments? (Even though we met in 1999, we didn't start doing this until we put up our first tree together in 2000.)

So now, for the record, here are all the ornaments and their stories, for your Christmas Eve reading enjoyment. (Hopefully Blogger will display all the pictures with their comments, if not, I think you'll be able to figure it out!)



2000
It all began this year. Ric and I moved in together and put up our first Christmas Tree. So here's the ornament to match!




2001
We took a trip to Seattle and stayed with my Dad for a week or so. We found this ornament while doing some sight-seeing after taking a ferry from Bremerton to Seattle. It was a fun trip, so this was our official annual ornament. (By the way, on that ferry ride, we actually ran into a roommate of mine from college - small world!)



2002
For obvious reasons, we chose a "romantic" ornament this year because we were married in October! Rhonda, my good friend and roommate from college, gave Ric and I this ornament and it became our official 2002 ornament.



2003
We didn't do anything REALLY huge this year. It was our first full year being married and figuring out the whole "husband and wife" thing. My "bestest friend evah" Shelly sent this ornament as a gift and it was a perfect representation of our first married year together.



2004
We bought a house in 2004 and started to make it into our home. We've really loved it here since. Our neighborhood and neighbors are all fantastic, and you can't beat the fact that we're only a 10 minute walk to the beach! (A bonus we didn't even know about until after we moved in!)



2005
Ryan was born on December 1st this year. It was a no-brainer to get a baby's first Christmas ornament. We actually received this one from my sister, Andrea as a gift and decided that it was the official ornament this year.



2006
On March 31st, 2006, Ric and I were sealed together with Ryan as an Eternal Family in the Mount Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, Utah. This was the most important event of the year, and our lives together so far. We found this gorgeous ornament to represent that event, and I've loved to hang it in a special place every year since.



2007
This year was an easy one - Megan was born in June. I remember that it was hard to find a Baby's First Christmas ornament that I really liked, so this one was what I chose because we could put Meg's picture inside of it. There she is! Our little "Meg-oo"


2008
You aren't seeing things, this year, our ornament is Ryan's "Retired" RedSox Binky. It's the year of the "B" - and if you've been keeping up with us this year, you'll know that many posts were dedicated to that "B"! Not only does it represent a HUGE milestone in the kids life (and ours) when they gave them up, BUT, it also represents the fact that Ryan went to his first PawSox game with Daddy.

Hmmm...if 2008 was the year of the "B", then maybe 2009 will be the year of the potty chair! I don't think that the Elmo potty seat will fit on the tree though! Maybe we should hope for a more "appropriate" event in our lives, what do you think? hehe


So there you have it - Our Christmas Ornament Tradition. This year, we're also adding something new...Chinese food for Christmas Dinner! :) Can't wait! (No more cooking all day, waiting for others to cook, we're just ordering in and enjoying dinner with chopsticks!)

What are your Christmas (or Hanukkah, or Festivus, or whatever!) Traditions? Are you planning to start any of your own this year?