Oh Christmas Tree

We traditionally take down our Christmas decorations on Jan. 6 the celebration of the Three Kings. Before we take it down, I wanted to capture some of it since it is not only Lauren's first Christmas tree, it's ours as well. We never put up a tree before because we usually opened presents at our parents' houses.

This year we bought a fake tree (pre-lit!) and I don't know what side of the fake tree vs. real tree controversy you're on, but having the lights already attached is pretty darn cool (sorry, real tree advocates).

I've been collecting ornaments for years, and for the first time I got to lovingly hang each one. We decided to have a Filipino themed tree since I had a set of ornaments that I bought during my last trip to the Philippines made of Capiz Shells (a type of shell from the Capiz region of the Philippines) fashioned in the shapes of stars, bells, parols, candles, and angels. I also decked it out with some gold and red sinamay ribbon(a woven fabric made of fibers from the abaca tree native to the Philippines) . Luckily I found a tree topper angel made of capiz shells from Target, of all places. The other ornaments don't have a Filipino theme, but each one has a special meaning or a memory attached to it, like the palm tree from our last trip to Hawaii, the plastic slot machine from our 2003 trip to Vegas, and of course, the obligatory "Baby's first Christmas" ornament.

Capiz ornaments with sinamay ribbon

Baby's First...and Mommy's too!


Of course....


A carved ornament from Bethlehem..the REAL Bethlehem. Cool!


Some ornaments were hung with love but had to stay in the back of the tree...sorry Johnny!