Blogging Around the Christmas Tree (A Kathi Post)

 I love to have our Christmas tree up. Not only is it pretty and fun to have, it's fun to see my ornaments that I haven't seen all year. For the most part, most of the ornaments on our tree are reminders of things to keep close to our hearts.

This picture is one of the ornaments we bought with Nugget in mind. Nugget has several ornaments, but this one is a ceramic grocery bag with dog food, treats, and toys depicted inside. 

It reminds me of unconditional love, 'cause that's what our doggies give to us all.

This penguin ornament reminds me of our niece, Victoria (in the Navy now), because she loves all things penguin. Thinking of Victoria also makes me think about all our nieces and nephews, whom we love. Jim's nephew Grant was the one killed in Afghanistan. Thinking of Grant reminds us to think of our troops, those who are serving and those who served before, those who are living, and those who have passed. So looking at this ornament reminds me of family and of those who might not be able to be home on Christmas day for a lot of reasons, but they can be with us in our hearts.

This watermelon ornament is one I bought myself, just because I love watermelons. Watermelons are Christmas colors, so that we can have Christmas in the middle of summer in a way. 


I also love the grapes we grow in our backyard, and that's what I think of when I look at this ornament of grapes. That also makes me think of my Grandma Lovey, 'cause she always picked grapes and made grape jelly. Because she could do it, I was not afraid to learn. Thinking of Grandma Lovey makes me think of all the grandparents, and the lives they lived, things they did, and things they taught. They are also the reason we have our parents, and having good ones is a huge blessing. Jim and I were both fortunate to have good ones, and I'm fortunate to still have my mom. Seeing these grapes reminds me of how I love them all and how they all love me.

This aspen leaf was given to me by one of the friends I worked with when I worked in libraries. It was one of the best jobs ever because of the people. I still have some of those people in my life today, even if I only see some of them every once in awhile and some I haven't seen in a couple years. Though I don't see them often, they are never far from my thoughts and still occupy a place in my heart. It was a great job, and I met a lot of great people. 

That makes me think of other people I have met in work since then, and I have some good friends from my work at the mining association as well. I don't really have friends in my new workplace, but I'm still really new.

Christmas is a good time to remember friends, old and new, near and far.

Speaking of friends, Jim and I got this ornament of a ristra when we went to New Mexico to visit his friend Bob. He and Bob have been friends since elementary school. When we visited Bob in 2010, he didn't yet know that he had brain cancer. He's been fighting it awhile and is still fighting. That makes me think of courage and living with challenges that we all do, but some are harder and longer fights than others, and some have more or harder challenges that the rest of us. 

Thinking of those challenges makes me think of our friends who have passed. Jim has lost quite a few. I admire him for the way he keeps friends for a long time. He is loyal. He is supportive. He is not afraid. He is goodhearted and faithful. That makes me remember how lucky I am to have him as my husband.

Speaking of his being my husband -- this ornament is about his surname. That makes me think of how funny it is that I now have an Irish last name to go with my Irish first name AND to think of how much we love each other.
That reminds me that I am a lucky girl.

This ornament makes me think of the star of Bethlehem. That makes me think of the birth of Jesus, and how he was sent to us from God. The sacrifice of his Son is the greatest gift we will ever receive. Merry Christmas, all!