Tree Traditions

YAY - we finally got a tree up!  

This year, we decided to change our usual decor.  For the past six years, we've had colored lights with purple & red as the accent colors.   Unlike many that we know, we don't really have any 'milestone' ornaments or decorations, so we're not really attached and decided we needed a change!

This year, we wanted something brighter.  So, we got clear lights with green, clear iridescent and champagne colored ornaments.  It is much more simple than we've had in the past, but it's beautiful!!

And I LOVE it!

We haven't added all our other Christmas decorations yet (i.e. Nativity Set, Christmas Village, Wreaths, etc), so I may be working on that the rest of the week... Although, if we don't get around to it, at least my tree is up :-)

Growing up, getting our tree and decorating it was a highlight of Christmas for me.  My mom liked to go find and cut our tree on her birthday weekend.  We would make a whole day of sledding and drinking homemade hot cocoa.

The day after we cut the tree, all of us siblings would gather and decorate the tree.  It was, no doubt, covered in homemade ornaments that all of us would bring home from school (and my mom's tree still is).   We'd race to mom (who would prep the ornaments for hanging) to get the ones we made and fight to hang it in our favorite location on the tree.

And tinsel!  We loved adding the tinsel - and I was the crazy one who would fix everyone else's tinsel clumps later on. (I think my sister did too, but she never let me catch her if she did)

I wonder what traditions we'll create with our children one day.

Today, I started a new tradition for our family.  I learned last week that the second Sunday of December is a day of remembrance to those grieving the loss of a child.  At 7pm (in your local time zone), candles are lit for one hour to remember the children that have passed away and their parents and family that are grieving.   This was started 15 years ago by The Compassionate Friends.

We lit two candles. One for our son, William Ryan, and one for my friend's daughter, Faith Ann.  Both were born sleeping.

I am glad to have at least one tradition to add to our December days in the future years to come.  Perhaps we'll start another new one in the next couple weeks.

Oh, and here's one that I won't forget!

What are some traditions you have, or remember from your childhood?  Would love to hear about some!