Grandpa's Christmas Ornaments

Grandpa started two very special traditions when our older granddaughters were young! Whenever he travels, he always sends a postcard to each child. Whether it’s back to the same states again and again. . .or a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the land down under, he always finds five different cards, writes something about the area and what he/we’ve been doing and gets them mailed in the first few days of the trip!

The second “Grandpa thing” all the kids look forward to are their Christmas ornaments!  Gramps chooses something unique for each child from the time they’re born.  As they grow older, he thinks back through the year about something special that really captures a meaningful event, adventure or talent for him or her!  There's been horse camp, a little bookworm, the California move, karate, music lover, swimmer, a budding actress and dogsledding! 2012 is highlighting  interests in archery, volleyball, flag football and expert gaming!









 
They look forward to these every December as they celebrate the joys of the Christmas season. Their new personalized ornament from Grandpa is right up there with decorating the tree and house, baking goodies and making lists for Santa!
 
We used to head to the mall to the Ornament kiosks and select two; then three when our grandson came along. Once there was a sale “buy four, get one free”. . .so he bought one for our grand dog and one for us depicting our love for the beach! By the time the twins were born, he’d discovered online shopping and a wealth of online ornament vendors and selections. Nowadays he browses site after site where there’s bound to be that special one for each child; not only can it be personalized with their name and the year, but you have choices of gender/hair color/sports/artistic
skills/disabilities /school teams and much more.

Grandpa is getting just as much pleasure out of this awesome tradition. He prides himself on picking just the right thing for each child, and beams for days after they’ve excitedly opened the gift, hung it on the tree and jumped into his arms with a big thank you hug!

It’s especially heartwarming seeing them on the big girls’ tree. . .there are soooooo many by now!  And the younger ones eagerly anticipate what’s coming as soon as autumn fades.  He makes it a surprise of course, but they love to guess! What a wonderful collection they are acquiring; beautiful ornaments to cherish. . .AND a symbol of Grandpa’s love and pride! Looking at each one will tell them Grandpa was there. . .and that Grandpa knew this was an important time in their life.