Deck the Halls

We haven't decorated for Christmas since 2005: two and a half years of house-sitting kind of squelched our ability to retrieve our decorations, much less feel like it was our house to bedeck with baubles, tinsel, and trees. So we're really loving the chance to set up our simple Christmas decorations and have a tree. In 2005, we pumped up the air mattress and slept under the tree several nights; Taylor and I are planning to do this again.








Is it obvious I'm sad to miss the Menlo Park Stake Christmas Creche exhibit this year? (My favorite part of Christmas in the Bay Area!) I put up every single creche we own. My favorite is the first shown, which comes from Palestine. I also love the wooden Holy Family from Krakow (in red) and the simple wooden set Anna gave me several years back.












Saturday we joined the shopping throngs to pick up a few more decorations: garlands, a little tree for David's room, and a few fancy ornaments. It was fun to come home and spruce things up even further.




On Sunday we put up the tree in David's room. Bribery: if he stays in bed during naptime and bedtime, he gets to keep the lights on. His tree mainly gets the old ornaments I collected as a child. But my parents had a tradition of giving us a new ornament every year...and I confiscated those, since they mean more to me.














Taylor and I both wish Christmas came in January. It follows so closely on the heels of Thanksgiving, that there isn't enough time to really enjoy the season. Lights on houses should stay up for 6-7 weeks at least, to ward off the winter-time blues. Many high schools don't wrap up their semesters till the middle of January anyway. Christmas in January would make for better semester breaks, free of homework.