I finally decorated the Christmas tree tonight-sans Skip who is making his way across country. We put the tree and the rest of the decorations up last weekend when he was home but never got around to putting ornaments on the tree. Decorating the tree is like taking a walk down memory lane. The oldest ornament in our collection is a Christmas ball that says “Baby’s First Christmas” from 1982. The newest is an “Our First Christmas” from 2010 bought to commemorate our first Christmas as a married couple. While I was hanging ornaments tonight, I thought it’d be fun to tell their story in a top ten list.
1. “Baby’s First Christmas” 1982. My Nanny and Papa bought Brooke and me a Hallmark Christmas ornament every Christmas until we were grown. Every ornament is dated and is in the original box it came in. I don’t put the balls on the tree anymore, but the others all make the yearly cut.
2. “School Desk.” When I was in 5th grade, we moved to Kannapolis over Christmas break. My AG class in Eden threw me a going away party and gave me an ornament. My teacher (whose name I can’t remember) wrote on the back of the desk, “from your 5th grade AG class, Eden NC.”
3. “The Elf.” The giant elf ornament has to be older than I am, but it always reminds me of Jenilee. I’m not sure if she would remember it or not, but she used to love this ornament and played with it every Christmas at our house. When you jiggle it, it looks like he’s dancing and makes a funny noise. We laughed and laughed at this ornament when we were in middle school.
4. “ASU colored ball.” One of the first years that I taught with Emily Williams, her yearbook class made Christmas ornaments during their Christmas party. Emily made me one with ASU colors and it was the first Christmas gift I got from a co-worker who became a dear friend.
5. “Maxine.” The Hallmark character Maxine has always reminded us of my Nanny. When they made her into an ornament, we had to have her. Every year when I put her on the tree, I think of all the Christmas presents my Nanny has given to me, from my Cabbage Patch kid, Tabitha, with the “real” hair, to my new car when I turned 16. Every year that we get to spend another Christmas with her makes the sassy little ornament a little more special.
6. “Pastor Skip ball.” The first, and only, Christmas Skip spent in West Virginia, the Pastor and his family gave Skip a hand painted ornament that has “Pastor Skip 2005” written on it. It was the first year we were dating, and the worst of all of our years together, but I love this ornament because it represents the first stage in our lives together.
7. “Our first Christmas” 2005. I can’t even remember who bought this ornament, Skip or me, but I love it. It actually has wedding rings on the bottom of it, which is funny because we didn’t marry until 5 YEARS later!
8. “State Champs 2008.” When West Rowan won its first of 3 state football championships in a row, someone in the community made these beautiful ornaments with a hand painted falcon inside a snow globe type ornament. I vividly remember that Championship game and how special this time of year was for all of our school that year.
9. “Matching Snowmen.” The Christmas before Skip proposed, Ashley Erdman gave us snowmen with our name and the year, 2008, beautifully written on each. At Thanksgiving that year, I remember talking to Ashley about her concerns that Skip hadn’t proposed and her fear I was going to give up on him before he did. I realized then how mutual my love for the Erdman family was and that I was not the only one waiting impatiently!
10. “Our First Christmas” 2010. This one I know was bought by Skip for me last Christmas. It was out first Christmas together as a married couple and our first Christmas having Christmas festivities at our house. It snowed and we got to play in the snow with Hailey and her puppy. Skip had two weeks off of work and we spent almost every minute of them together.
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