Christmas Through the Years

Happy Christmas Eve - even though it isn't evening.  This morning I'd like to share a few pictures from Christmas Past.

Ten years ago, Daughter and I were still in Michigan, living in the house I owned (well, me and the bank).  We didn't have a lot, but we had each other.  The tree, the table, the chair... those all belonged to my parents.  It was the year I splurged and bought a beautiful expensive coat for Daughter Dear - and got the reindeer seen here.  (JC Penney was having a thing where you purchase anything and the reindeer was $15.  His name is Apple, btw, and he's still with us.) 


By Christmas the next year we were living in Florida.  Believe it or not, the warmest place I ever lived was the only place that ever had a fireplace where we could hang our stockings.   Same tree, same ornaments, different stockings.


For Christmas 2002, we were living in Sandy, UT.  New tree here - because the other tree didn't make the trip from FL to UT.  But, if you look, you can see we still have the red bow/pine cone tree topper we use - under the star.

Now I have to flash forward a bit, because I lost most of the pictures from before the great computer crash of 2006.  Five years since the last picture, we moved from the first apartment in Utah to another - this time in South Jordan - to Colorado and then from house to house to house in this place.  What you see here is probably my favorite house architecturally - where we held Christmas 2007. 

And thus, we come around to this year and this house - pictured yesterday.  Since I first began taking digital photos of my Christmases, a lot has changed - the scenery being the least of it all.  I am married to a wonderful man, I have an intelligent and fun daughter, and we have the best cat ever.  I now write novels instead of just dreaming about it. 

And through it all, the pine cone with its red bow has graced the top of our tree.  Thinking about it now, I guess that little tree-topper is a symbol of constancy amid change.  And maybe it's also a symbol that no matter what life throws at us, we can still have presents under the tree and joy in our hearts.  May the pine cone remain there for many years to come.

Merry Christmas, Everyone.  I hope the season brings you all the joys you hope for.  May the next twelve months bring more delights than any found beneath our trees.