Oh Christmas Tree

I have finally gotten my tree put up.  Thanks to the ice that's covering pretty much everything, Christmas break came a couple of days early.  Our puppy sometimes can't help herself when it comes to getting into things that she shouldn't, so I didn't trust her with my precious ornaments, or the presents that have been wrapped.  Some days, being unsupervised for several hours gets Abby into trouble.

Putting up the Christmas tree has been one of the best parts of the holiday season.  Our family has some great traditions, and one of my favorites is that every year since my sisters and I were born, our parents have bought us a Christmas ornament.  Even after two of us have gotten married, we still get ornaments.  Many of them, especially since we've gotten older, represent major milestones in our lives.  Mom found one of my favorites the first Christmas that Nick and I were engaged...

I search for weeks to find an ornament for Nick and my first married Christmas, and I couldn't find one that was "just right".  My friend, Amy, got us one for a wedding gift, and it was perfect.  Amy knows my tastes after so much time spent together in college.

And finally, Nick's favorite ornament is one that we bought at the Christmas Shop at Holiday World when we took my youngest sister and some of her friends.  It's hand-blown glass with webs of glass inside.

Here's a shot of the finished tree.  Please excuse the Directv in the background.  Nick doesn't enjoy putting the tree up quite as much as I do.

The last accomplishment for the day was getting our Christmas picture taken.  My parents very kindly stopped by to take the photo since I couldn't figure out the self-timer on my camera and couldn't find the manual.  We had to hang out for a few minutes to give Abby time to calm down from seeing her grandparents, but she finally got ahold of herself and sat for the photo.

Happy Holidays dear readers!