Christmas Decorations

Darrell and I decided today was a good enough day to start puttingup decorations, and by chance, I read Beth's post about wanting to pictures, so here are a few:

Darrell is decorating our hallway. We have done this for years, and it is his "baby". He is careful about which decorations go up, and it is his choice for garland and such. The first year we had the boys' homemade art work, which has long since fallen apart. Last year we had snowflakes made all of us. I know, what an odd tradition to "Deck the Hall". I think it goes back to when I was in the Christian School and we had a contest for the best decorations along the entrance hall. We had teams, and it was quite "fancy", not to mention a lot of fun.

The Nativity:

My collection has grown to an enormous size. I have added my own pieces, along with gifts from Darrell, Mom, and the kids.

This will not stay as I set it up, as in our home, the Nativity is always "child friendly" Maybe the boys will remember it held such wonders as GI Joe, Barney, Chewbacca, and a troll.

Now, you can't see as well as I hoped in this, but I wanted to point out some of my favorites:

The cow, painted by Brian, lays beside the "Crippled Lamb" near the manger. This has connection to the story by Max Lucado.

There is a Wise man painted by DJ, and a fisherman I bought while thinking of him.

The white spot in the center is a cat with a bobble head. I bought it to replace one of the cats that got lost with kids play. It reminds me of Mammie's set and the bobble head cow.

Beth is there, along with Ruth. The angel standing with Mary is a small one that reminds me of the Fortin girls, whose parents helped to supply the set with gift card to Mystic Village for several years. Oh, and a ceramic Joseph, who stands as shepherd to remind me of the times when Darrell has tried to meet me in the middle.

Lastly, up front and center are three mothers. One is expecting. Mom bought her for. She said it reminded her of me, "always preggo". There is a mother with a young son, and I think of the days when the boys were young, and the hopes I had for them to see the light of Christ in their lives. There is one that Ruth and I bought together. It is a Grandmother and infant. She said it was "Grama and me".

I would say you all got more than you bargained for with this post. I need to go and do some real work now. Love you all!