last Christmas mention

I was looking for this photo to post last week and accidentally ran across it today. Gina and I asked a friend to snap this photo (David Dillard) that was used as a Christmas card back in 1994. I've mentioned our house on Robinhood Trail in Bowling Green, KY earlier. This was taken in the living room of that beautiful little home. Gina and I married September of 1990 and moved immediately up to Kentucky. We had very few ornaments on our first trees. We had to make due. We had to use bows and ribbons and even some laced packets of potpourri from our wedding day. I cut a slice off the bottom of our first tree and made an ornament out of it. I left the the bark on it and painted a picture of a lit tree on on side - dated on back. Gina says that it's still among her favorite ornaments. The year we bought our first home, the one on Robinhood Trail, was the year we bought an ornament of a house and dated the bottom of it. Our first Christmas in our first home. So as time passed, new little ornaments were made or purchased that reflect our memories and love for each other. Not all ornaments have specific and personal meaning but many do have a story attached.

As each Christmas passed, a new ornament or two would be added and now we have so many ornaments that I there is never enough room on our tree for all of them. We don't have to use all the ribbons and bows to fill in the gaps of a tree like we used to. This year I ran across a couple of the lace bags of wedding potpourri that were on our first tree earlier in the month. We had a lot of those little potpourri bags that first year. The tree in this picture reminded me of the years that had gone by since the Christmas we just celebrated. Our tree now has beau-coup trimming, especially with all the ornaments that were made by the little hands of our children.

We'll be taking down the tree within the next few days. All things pertaining to the season will be packed in boxes and put under the stairs until next time round. I wonder what events will transpire over the course of 2009. New memories and new ornaments will be added next to the old. What will our family tree grow look like in Christmas to come?