Kick off Christmas!

Our big kick off every holiday season is going to get a real Christmas tree and decorating it.

This is one of my favorite Christmas things to do with my family.

This year we went for a short fat one instead of a tall skinny one.

It's really pretty and smells awesome.

We always put on the Nutcracker (hence Kelli's tutu) and the kids go at it with the ornaments. Most of our ornaments are kid friendly and get rearranged daily, but we have a few special ones.

I love watching them put them all over. This year Brady still loved the balls, but instead of throwing them he actually put them on the tree.

My tree won't win any beauty contests, but my kids can touch it and rearrange it and they just love it. Seeing them have so much fun with it makes it the most beautiful tree ever!!

These are our most special ornaments:

When Kelli was 2 or 3 she broke the leg off this toy soldier. She taped it back on using lots of tape. Upon closer inspection you will see that his new leg is on backwards. We love it!!

Our next favorite ornament is one Derek colored in Nursery! They told him and told him that it wasn't a cookie, and he even told US that it wasn't a cookie. But the temptation was too much. He took a big bite and proceeded to gag and dry heave because of the super salty flavor. Jake ran around the hall of the church looking for a garbage can. We get a laugh out of this ornament every year. It's very special to us!
The next ornaments don't hold the same place in our hearts but they are still special enough to be put up high on the tree.

Jake's grandma painted this one when he was a wee babe.

Jake made this one in kindergarten out of a milk cap, some things have fallen off of it, but isn't he so stinking cute!

Kelli made this ornament in Kindergarten. I love it!

I don't know exactly when Derek made this ornament, but it's cute too.