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I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We did.  Our family expanded last week.  My cousin, Lissa, and her husband, Wayne, had their first baby - Tiffany Mary!  She's absolutely adorable.  I hope to get to show you all sometime soon.  :)

My favorite part of Thanksgiving is the ornaments.  Yes, I said ornaments.

My mom has this Thanksgiving tradition with her grandkids.  Each year, they get a personalized ornament with the year on it. She works hard to find ornaments that reflect an interest or important time in their lives.   I will tell you that these ornaments are THE highlight of my kids' Christmas tree decorating experience.

Isaac is obsessed with Pokemon.  He pours over guides that provide stats and moves and all kinds of things that don't make sense to me.  Emma's ornament has the name of her second home, Escapar Farm.  And Abbi's reflects her love (so far) of high school.
 

This year's ornaments

In 2011, Isaac started to fish with his own fishing pole and he loved to fish with his Papa.  Oh my gosh, I need to tell you this story.  We were up at my Aunt Jackie's lake house.  Papa was talking to my Uncle Jim while Isaac fished off the pier.  Isaac was doing a great job on his own for quite a while.  Then he reels it in and discovers he hooked a whole bunch of seaweed.  Isaac turns to Papa, interrupting his conversation, and says, "Hellooo?!  We have a situation!"  (Is that funny to you?  Or is it a you-had-to-be-there thing? You probably have to hear how he said it.) I'm pretty sure that story is getting told on his wedding day.  Emma started to get serious about riding and competed in her first horse show in 2011.  And Abbi swam for the first year with the River Rats - and rocked it!

2011 Ornaments

Speaking of Abbi's time on the swim team, we just found this picture.  I have quite a collection of colorful Sharpies and we would decorate the girls like this before every swim meet.  (Did you know that you can get Sharpie off your skin with spray sunscreen?  You're welcome.)

Okay, back to ornaments.

A couple years earlier, Isaac was obsessed with fire trucks - well, all kinds of trucks.  And yes, he was really obsessed - like most young kids who find something they like and then nothing else in the world matters.  Emma tried skateboarding and took lessons.  It was cool to see her hang with the boys - and in some cases even outskate them.  This same year, Abbi tried softball.  It turns out it wasn't for her (there was too much yelling from the bleachers to stop playing in the dirt), but it was a fun experience for her (she really enjoys playing in the dirt).

2009 Ornaments

Isn't she cute?


Yeah, that's probably why she stopped skating.


She doesn't like it when I say she looks cute.







A few of my favorite ornaments were handmade by my friends.  My friend, Liane, is gifted with the talent and the patience for cross stitching.  I love all these adorable ornaments she made for me.

My favorite cross stitched ornaments!

One of my other favorites is this ornament - made by my friend Jules.  A gjillion years ago, we had time to be crafty and we stamped all kinds of stuff.  The clear insert of this ornament was stamped with the super cute reindeer.  Then she used marker to color them in.  She added glitter to the inside to look like snow and viola - you have a really cool ornament.

Reindeer in a Winter Wonderland

Kids grow up fast and I've noticed that time flies - especially as I'm getting older.  These ornaments spark conversation each year.  "Remember when...?" Without these ornaments to remind us of these neat experiences and exciting interests, we may forget about them and the funny stories that accompany them.  If you're looking to add a family tradition to your holiday, might I suggest personalized Christmas ornaments?