I grew up in a family that always had an artificial tree and Craig grew up in a family that always had a real tree. The very first year we were married Craig insisted on a real tree. He said it wouldn't be Christmas without a real tree. I wasn't crazy about the idea but I went along with it because it was important to him. And I have to say that after all these years it has grown on me and now it wouldn't be Christmas to me without a real tree.
And just as the real tree had to grow on me, the way I decorated our tree had to grow on Craig. Craig's family tree was mostly large shinny glass ornaments and lots of glitzy Christmas colors. My way of decorating the tree more reflected my personality of who I am and who we are as a family. There is no consistency to my ornaments. All my ornaments are different. And they all have meaning to us. I love putting up the tree each year. It really isn't a chore at all. I love to hang each ornament on the tree and think about where that ornament came from. Here are some examples........
Each year I purchase one of these clay personalized ornaments with all our names on it. This one is from 10 years ago.
I am not into cat ornaments but this one is special. My brother gave this to me for Christmas back when we were in high school....some 25 years ago. In all reality I'm sure that my mother purchased it and put his name on the package but it doesn't matter. I still think of him every year when I hang it on the tree.
And who has an Andy Griffith ornament on their tree? I do! Mom bought this for me because she knows I love the Andy Griffith show.
And likewise I'm sure not many people have a Santa Rooster on the tree either. My kitchen is decorated in chickens and roosters so it's only natural that I would have one on my tree too.
I would love to go out and spend a fortune on ornaments each year. I have to control myself but I do splurge on one or two of these Lenox ornaments. They are so beautiful. Each year my Lenox collection grows a little bigger.
This type is my favorite. I love nativity ornaments!! My goal is to someday have enough nativity ornaments to have an all nativity tree separate from my main tree. One of the nurses that I work with gave me this ornament last year. It had a tag on it that said it was made from the wood of an olive tree in Bethlehem. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not but I like to think it is true.
Homemade ornaments are the best. This is one that we made with the girl scouts one year.
These need no explanation. You know why I like these....
This doesn't even look like a Christmas ornament but it always goes on the tree. Jordan made this in first grade. It's a picture of her in her Halloween costume.
Christmas Eve at our house with Gram and Pa-Pa
Caleb's favorite gift from his sister (it's a backpack)
It wouldn't be Christmas without my Dad's Santa hat
The whole Mullauer Family Christmas day
Schaeffer family (Craig's sister)
Yes, these are my beautiful children
Craig getting the fire going
Jordan always wears her pj's all day long on Christmas day 
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!
For the last week we've been wanting to go to Cabela's and The Bass Pro Shop over by Chicago and we finally made it yesterday. All four of us went. It took us pretty much the whole day. None of us are hunters or fishermen but we all enjoy the outdoors and these are such cool places that anyone would like them. 
If you've never been to these stores, it's worth the drive. 
Craig got a new pair of boots for working on the snowmobile trails. 
Both stores have spectacular displays of real animals. This post would never end if I showed you all the pictures I took. Caleb said I was embarrassing him with all my picture taking and that I looked like some crazy tourist. In my younger years I may have been intimidated to walk around with my camera but now I just don't care. If I want a picture, I take it. Sorry Caleb. 
And they had the most awesome murals behind the displays. 
This was at the Bass Pro Shop. Craig said these machines were the first snowmobiles ever made. It was a sled that pulled you on a sleigh. Somehow I think Santa has a better sleigh than this one. 
Why does Craig have such a big smile on his face?
Because it snowed last night and today Craig and Caleb got to go for the first ride of the season.
We still need a lot more snow and trail conditions are pretty rough but it's a start.
This type is my favorite. I love nativity ornaments!! My goal is to someday have enough nativity ornaments to have an all nativity tree separate from my main tree. One of the nurses that I work with gave me this ornament last year. It had a tag on it that said it was made from the wood of an olive tree in Bethlehem. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not but I like to think it is true.
Craig is in Orlando all week at a trade show for his job. He left Monday morning and will be back Sunday night. We miss him. But it's been a busy week for us which makes the time go fast. It's so different when one of us is missing. The very first morning that Craig was gone Jordan and I woke up late and Jordan was late for school. The first thing out of Jordan's mouth was "Dad's only been gone one day and already we are falling apart". Craig really does help to make things run smooth in the mornings.
Jordan, Zoe and I went to the ReinDog parade in St. Joe yesterday. It was so fun. There must have been several hundred dogs all dressed up for Christmas in the parade. This parade has been going on for years but we finally decided to go this year. We'll make sure we go again next year, it was that cute.
Zoe was a good girl. She posted about it on her blog yesterday. You can read all about it from her perspective by clicking here. 
The town is decorated with all these statues. We only got to a few of them. Sometime I'd like to walk around town and see all of them. 
And of course Santa was in the parade. I love this time of year!! I think I'm the biggest kid of them all. 
