"This is where we are right now."

My handsome family ready for church. I love this picture!

Here are some pics of the kids in their Christmas outfits (thank you Nana Streby). Our tree this year was very much designed by the kids. We decided not to put ornaments on until Christmas Eve to avoid the obvious issues an almost-2-year-old has with leaving a decorated tree alone. Even without the ormanents the tree was quite flashy. John asked for multi-color lights (Dave and I much prefer white). There were 700 small multi-colored lights plus one strand of much larger LED lights from a wreath we had outside last year. We also put up one large strand of red, green and yellow bubble lights I inherited from my dad because mom was tired of all the color and motion on her tree I'm sure. Actually I love these and the memories they bring back. Another favorite of mine (maybe I'm the cause of this wild tree after all) is the disco style star that graces the top of our tree. I remember this gold frame, rotating shimmer of light on every wall it can reach from my grandparent's trees. Any one of these elements would be beautiful by itself, but together we found they made the tree a bit over the top. The kids, of course, loved it. Dave and I just kept reminding ourselves that "this is where we are right now." Someday I will again have a beautiful white light tree with coordinating and complimentary ornaments. But for now I'm really enjoying hanging construction paper sunday school ornaments at kid level and sharing my memories with the kids as I hang ornaments we've had for years on the upper two feet of branches.