Tree Finally Trimmed

I finally put the tree up last weekend.  Once again my family will not be able to get together for our Christmas until January so I had plenty of time to put up decorations, but I just LOVE having all the trimmings up during this cold and snowy season.  I love picking up tree ornaments on travels and trips because they are a small souvenir that will be showcased and treasured every Christmas and carefully kept the rest of the year.

These first two olive wood ornaments were brought from The Holy Land by my parents this spring.  They also brought home water from the Jordan River and our baby will be baptized with it.  :)

This domestic ornament came from The Neon Museum in Las Vegas when Dave and I were in town for his bowling tournament.  You can't see it very well in the picture but there are dangling chains of stars hanging from it.  I just love it!  Dave scoffed at the price at the time.  I told him I'd paid way more for ornaments in London and quickly made my way to the check out before he could stop me.

My sister bought me this one in Stillwater at the German Christmas Shop.  It is a German carousel like the carousel she bought me at a garage sale when we moved into the house.  My mother has the same carousel that my Grandpa Maynerd bought for her and is a favorite decoration.  This was given as kind of a pregnancy gift and I love it.

She also got this squirrel ornament more for the baby because we love squirrels and bunnies and critters for the kids in the family.  He is sitting next to a pewter viking ship ornament purchased and the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo in October.

 Here are two more pewter viking ship ornaments.

Here is a simple little Father Christmas ornament from the Audhild Viken shop behind Oslo's City Hall.  It was a large gift shop with knitwear, housewares and souvenirs and a Christmas shop in the basement.  We found some nice souvenir places/tourist traps in that neighborhood that were a little cheaper than shopping on Karl Johans Gate. It seemed very familiar and I was pretty sure I'd been there with my host family years ago.

Here are two different Scandinavian heart ornaments.  The wooden one was kind of a modern stylized version and reminded me of Louet spinning wheels!  The one on the right is a pewter traditional version of the heart.  I've always known these as Danish hearts but they are so Christmas-y!

This was just a cute wooden gingerbread-y/German carousel-y ornament.  The wooden figure just reminded me of decorations we had growing up.

This last one is probably my favorite.  If you want a symbol of Norway it is this building--a stabbur.  It is the winter storehouse of peasants and was basically rodent-proof.  The house itself is built on stilts with large slate discs between the stilt and the building which made jumping around/over the disc impossible for rodents--think of  squirrel-proof bird feeder technology.  The steps were also built a distance away and lower from the door so rodents couldn't jump from the stairs.  They are wooden rustic buildings with grass roofs and absolutely charming.  Every year we add a few more ornaments to the collection and each one comes from somewhere special or has a story.  Enjoy the season!