Santa came to our house early in the morning, not in the wee hours. It was 5:27. Know what? Santa was not wearing a red suit with a matching hat. She wore a nightgown!
We had a lovely Christmas Eve, going to the candlelight service at church and coming home to have German cookies and eggnog. We sat at the table chatting until late. I should have remembered the little gifts I’d bought, because we didn’t exchange presents this year. I blithely went to bed without thinking of the empty stockings in front of the fireplace. No one was up when I woke at 5:27, so I put the candy in the stockings, along with a toothbrush to stop the damage the candy might do. (My dad was a dentist.)
Everything was ready for Christmas Day. I had taken a photo of the elk neighbor Bob made for their yard. The first time Sadie saw it, she barked fiercely. This day she paid it no attention, preferring to sniff the ground.
John finished decorating the tree, using only a portion of our ornaments. There were ones made by grandsons David and Nathaniel when they were children, one created by Logan, Chrismons I made years ago, some made by others, and some bought at a Christmas market in Munich. Many good years were represented on that tree.
Merry Christmas!
Mehrling Muse 
Good for you! Reminds me of the times I’d wait until everyone was asleep to go put toys and candy in stockings. I miss those days, but this year was happy just the same, my joy just coming from all of us being together. 🤗
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That’s marvelous that you could all be together.
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Love the thought of those ornaments being a story of where you have been and those you love! Merry Christmas John and Anne.
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Merry Christmas to y’all!
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I love trees decorated with memories!
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That’s a beautiful tree Anne – very regal looking. I remember getting a Christmas stocking at the end of my bed as a youngster and I was told the night before that I should open the stocking and stay in bed so Mommy and Daddy could sleep in. My father worked six days a week with a 50-mile round-trip commute and began at 6:00 a.m. The stocking usually had little books and Barbie accessories, some candy (only allowed for special occasions).
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That was a lovely way to start Christmas — keeping you happy while they got a little extra sleep.
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Yes, it worked out for both of us that way didn’t it? But my mom used to say even though I was supposed to be quiet, I’d let out a shriek when I saw new Barbie clothes and woke them up anyway.
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That is amusing. I’ll bet your mom was happy that you were thrilled with the gifts.
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Merry Christmas Anne. That’s a lovely tree. Here we prepare for Noche Buena and cook some on Christmas Day.
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This is lovely! Debi and I have an assortment of Christmas tree ornaments like yours, including a little container of water from the Oconaluftee River above Cherokee, and a motel key from the first night we spent together in Springfield (we’d been separated for a while and it was Christmas Eve when Debi got down here with the cat and our household goods in a U-Haul). Every ornament told a story, and I once mentioned it to my freshman English class as an example of a private symbol — without thinking what a roomful of 18-year-old college students would do with the idea of their English teacher putting a motel key on his Christmas tree! 🙂
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That is amusing.
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That’s a lovely tree. Wonderful light decoration. I like it’s. Merry Christmas to you!🌲🌷
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Thank you.
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As I know only too well, Santa comes in many guises. The tree looks fabulous.
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John always decorates the tree by himself. I made a mistake in throwing the last bit of tinsel on our first tree and was excused from decorating from then on. Best mistake I ever made!! I love seeing what he does with the tree each year.
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That’s a beautiful tree Anne as is the elk! It’s lovely to remember the years when such and such an ornament was bought and used ..
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I still want to get a better picture of neighbor Bob’s elk, preferably with Logan in it.
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Even though I whine about the work of putting up a tree, I missed it this year. We did downsize it to about 4 or 5′ so it’s manageable. Next year we’ll deck the halls!
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I want to see full picture displays next year with cats in each photo.
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My cats love sleeping under the tree. They are too old to do more than bat one or two ornaments down but a nice nap on the velvet skirt they can do.
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Our cats never slept under the tree! We didn’t have a velvet skirt — that must be the reason. You are an exceptional cat person, providing luxuries for your pets.
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