Christmas Traditions

We put the Christmas tree up on Thanksgiving night, so Grandma Ruth could be here with us while we did it. We have a fun tradition: every year since we got married (this Christmas will make 11!) we have purchased an ornament that represents something that has happened during the year, or something that is special to us, or important events that have occurred during the year. A few examples of the ones we have purchased in the past are: a blue stocking with the word "son" on it the year we found out we were having Ethan, a treble clef sign the year I was teaching 40 piano students, and last year was Bob the Builder carrying a Christmas tree because both boys were a bit fanatical about Bob the Builder last year. Then when we pull out the Christmas box, we take the ornaments out one at a time, in order, and talk about what each ornament represented for that year. The boys were fighting over who got to put up what ornament. I can already see these ornaments being a very big source of difficulty when we die and they want to divvy them up! Anyway, here is a cute picture of Christian explaining to the boys about our first Christmas together, and the heart ornament that we purchased our first year of marriage. Then here is a picture of our family in front of the tree. Hopefully, this will be our last year with a tiny tree. We are ready for a full-size real-life tree!

Then, Grandma Ruth took a few cute pictures of the boys. Here is Aidan playing Candyland.
And here is Ethan, playing the piano. I just gave him his first piano lesson last week. He loved it, and keeps asking me when it is time to move on to new songs. We might have a virtuoso on our hands!!!