I’m a sucker for Christmas. I love everything about it.

I love the feelings of tranquility and happiness of the season.

I love the decorations, the smell of a fresh tree, the shopping, the wrapping, the Christmas cards, the visits to Santa, and all the other special little events that go along with it.  If I could bottle up Christmas and save it all year long, I would.

One of my most favorite Christmas things to do is to decorate the tree. Now that my kids are old enough to help without me yelling (too much), it’s even more special.

As I was taking each ornament out of its box this year, I started to get really nostalgic. Of course we have the generic ball ornaments and candy canes, but while unwrapping the rest of the ornaments, I started to realize that each one has its own story. We don’t just buy ornaments to buy them. There’s always a reason behind them or a reason why someone else decided to buy them for us.

There’s the custom-made wedding ornament that my old college roommate and bridesmaid gave to me for my wedding shower. It has our names painted on it with out wedding date. It’s crazy to think that it’s now ten years old.

There’s the Santa in a hula skirt from our Hawaiian honeymoon. I think back and remember how we said we were going to go back on our five year anniversary. Safe to say, that did not happen!

There are the baby’s first Christmas ornaments. The ones with the girls’ pictures and the other ones with their names, dates of birth, and other information painted on. To say these are special would be an understatement.

There’s the “sisters” ornament that my old college friend gave to me. While we were away, we had our own “fake families” and she was my pretend sister.

There’s the “Mommy’s First Christmas” ornament that my friend of thirty years gave to me when my first daughter was born. I remember thinking how I had never seen an ornament like that for moms.

There’s the “Dirty Dancing” ornament that says quotes from the movie. I bought this one for myself because it’s one of my favorite movies and “no one puts baby in the corner”.

There’s the Clark Griswold ornament that says “Alleluia” when the lights turn on. I bought this one for my husband because his love for Christmas lights reminds me of Clark Griswold.

There’s the sunflower ornament my aunt bought me because sunflowers are my favorite flower.

There are the handmade ornaments my girls made. They help me track their artistic progress each passing year.

There are the Dora and Doc McStuffins ornaments sprinkled about because those were there favorite characters last year. Funny how no “Frozen” ornaments made their way on the tree this year.

There are the countless Elvis ornaments because my husband loves Elvis.

There’s the salami and deli meat ornaments…they’re a new addition…don’t ask!

Each ornament is not simply “just” a decoration. Each ornament has its own story, its own memory that will forever be engrained in my heart and mind.

Do you have special ornaments that tell a story?