Christmas Tree Treasures

I love the idea of sharing our favorite & most memorable ornaments on the Christmas Tree. I have been anticipating this post for awhile.

I went to the tree last night to pick my favorites and I realized truly...I love them all. I have weeded down my ornaments over the past couple of years and only hang the ones I really want to hang. Ideally (and perhaps someday) I'd have a decorated tree in each room... large ones...and decorate each one uniquely. That way I could incorporate all styles I love.

I selected 10 favorite ornaments to include in this post.

#10 & #9 is the dragonfly and the beaded 'ring' behind it. I love the dragonfly and have just three of them randomly placed on branches. I have always loved dragonflies and these ornaments just remind me of the little creature. They were a gift from my mother. The 'ring' of beads was a gift from my nephew...I believe he was 6 or 7 when he made it. He actually made us two...the other is on the other side of the tree.

#8 & #7 are the pink rose and the "dream" glitter ornament. I got the dream ornament after ogling it at one of my favorite stores. It's made from antique hollywood glass glitter. I love it. I finally broke down and bought it with a gift certificate. The pink rose is actually broken on the back side. I picked it for my mother and had to buy her a new one. I still love the little 'delicate' rose and it clips on the branch. It reminds me of friendship and how fragile it is. It reminds me to cherish each friend.

#6 & #5 & #4 are the ornaments one of my best friends made us last year. They are snow royalty! I love, love, love them. They are truly precious little snowpeople. Next to the snowMAN...you'll see the "wish" ornament which is another favorite of mine (I told you they were all favorites). I love WORDS (as if you didn't know) and ornaments are no exception. My packages almost ALL have word ornaments hanging from them. Words speak...sometimes better than I could.

Behind the snowMAN is a little bear with a 'topaz' in it. It's the first ornament my mother got me when I was a child, when she started purchasing each of us one ornament a year. That year it was an AVON Birthstone Bear ornament. I put it on my tree each year and remember the year or it's 'birth'.

#3 is the cross. I love what it says and what it represents. Enough said.

#2 is the plastic cup ornament that says: Rancho Snafu. The picture is not as clear as I would have liked. A coworker/friend made it for me in 1997. It is an actual Ranch another friend built in Grand Junction, Colorado. It was her retirement home. A group of them spent a portion of the summer of 1997 in Colorado building the environmentally friendly ranch.

The ornament is especially important to me for a couple of reasons. The girl who made the ornament always includes some 'holy' dirt from Chimayo. It's considered blessed by God and 'healing dirt'. I don't know about it's 'power' but it is something special to go and retrieve this dirt each year.

The second reason it is so important is the friend whose "ranch" it is, died of a recurrence of Breast Cancer 2 years ago. She was a very dear friend and co-worker before we both moved away from Albuquerque. She had passion for life and such fierce love for God.

She really taught me so much about marriage (before I wed) and the art of being a good wife. She taught me so many things, both work related and life related. While she'll always be in my heart and in my memories...I miss her wisdom and smiles and words. I look forward to seeing her in heaven.

I hadn't seen her since she retired in 1998 and moved to this ranch. She was able to live in it for several years and enjoy many a grandchild visit prior to her return to heaven. This ornament will always hang on my tree...as long as I live.

Finally...my very favorite ornament (though it doesn't hang on the tree, at least that I'm aware of....) is this hunky husband o' mine! You already know all the reasons why he's the best 'ornament' in my life. He lights me up like the brightest Christmas Tree and adorns my life with love that shines bright all the way to Heaven!

Have a Friday that is Merry & Bright!

and get over to Morning Glory's place for more of thse Christmas Tree Treasures.