It's Beginning to Look a Little Like Christmas

Holiday Song channel set up on Pandora Radio? Check. Christmas presents purchased and (mostly) wrapped? Check. Blustery wind blowing snowflakes around the sky? Not so much. But, hey, you can't have it all.

Per annual tradition, Colby put up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is watching the kids decorate the tree. Each year they get better at it; Soren gets tall enough to put ornaments just a little bit higher. We downsized our tree last year in exchange for a smaller, pre-lit model. As I pulled each ornament out of the tote and unwrapped it, memories flooded back. Oh, look! It's the Our First Christmas Together 1998 ornament. The kids all have My First Christmas ornaments, and in a family like mine those can take up a lot of room on a little tree.



We have lots of fishing ornaments for Dade:



There are lots of Star Wars ornaments for Brody and a Schoolhouse Rock "I'm Just a Bill" ornament for me:



Here's Colby's new gnome:



And our little snow people family:



And, of course, the little wooden hearts purchased in memory of the little snowflake that never made it to become a snow-Vesely (but we still think of you every Christmas):



It's magical what a Christmas tree can do to make your spirits soar and to make the tears flow. Here's to kicking off the holiday season with hearts full of joy, compassion, and gratitude for all of our blessings. May we not only be mindful of what we have but also of what we've lost and what is still to come. Happy Holidays!