Reflections of our Christmas tree.

                                                                            

It was a quiet day, the family had gone on an outing and since I am still trying to recover from this awful cough I stayed home. I put on some beautiful Christmas music, poured myself a cup of spiced tea and turned on the tree lights.  As I sat there I started reflecting on the ornaments on the tree.  Some were hand made by myself when Maria was little and I had the eyesight and time to make them.  Little crocheted dolls of children from around the world, crocheted Snow White and the seven dwarfs, none over three inches tall and the handmade decorations made by little Maria and now her two children are contributing to the tree. Maria's kindergarten teacher made a clothespin reindeer, and Noah's kindergarten teacher made a Gingerbread man for the tree.  Trinity's kindergarten teacher helped the kids make a small fencepost Santa that has a place of honor on a shelf.  When Maria and I visited Israel we brought home an olive wood nativity scene to hang on the tree.  Mother loved her soap operas and she has an "Another World" ornament  that Maria bought for her many years ago that hung on the tree each year.  Cheerleaders, ballet dancers, Maxine, angels, Mickey Mouse and Goofy, The Grinch, One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish, it is a mishmash of things we   love.  Today Maria brought home The Elf on the Shelf to join the others.   Each ornament is a memory of love and we had to spend time with each of them before we found just the right branch to place them on.  The tree is neither big nor fancy but it sure is ours.