Making Holiday Memories

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas.  I am sad to announce, I was sick over Christmas this year.  It seems I had some type of food poisoning the night of Christmas Eve.  Its hard to say for sure, but I was up in the middle of the night with terrible stomach pains.  They were very intense.  Once things calmed down, I was able to sleep, but my stomach hurt most of Christmas day.  I also didn't feel like eating much and was advised by the on-call doctor to eat a plain diet.  So my Christmas/Birthday dinner was steam veggies and rice.  I was not able to enjoy any of the good food or even my birthday cake.

I was still able to enjoy some time with family, although I really didn't do much besides sit on the couch.  We watched the Bear/Packers game, which was just depressing.  I am feeling better now and even eating again.  This is also not the first time I have been sick on or around Christmas.  In fact, I was sick last Christmas. I hope this is not becoming a new tradition!

Speaking of traditions,  I have been wanting to post some pictures of my Christmas ornaments.  Decorating the tree this year, I realized that they make up so many memories for me. Almost all of my ornaments are gifts, which alone make them special.  Here is a look.

I have ornamanets that are....


older than me and belonged to my mom.
hand-made with love.
collectible and worth money.
not valuable at all, but are worth more to me than any dollar value.
part of a series that I have been collecting for 21 years this year.
from our pop culture like Lucy,  Elvis and Scooby Doo.
glittery snowflakes which are on their own special tree.
representative of who I am as a person.  Lots of dogs and sewing.
in memory of my dog Cocoa, who we lost 10 years ago this year.
special gifts give to us as wedding presents.
from Ethan's collection and represent who he is as a person.  Super heros and skiing.
that my sister and I fought over when we moved out of our parents house.  Mom had to split them up between us.