Tree decorating

With a Charlie Brown tree brought in from the forest, it was time to start decorating. In all reality, our tree would hardly be considered part of the Charlie Brown style. It was quite full (relatively), no holes to hide against the wall and of course quite large (they always look so much smaller in the woods!).

With Christmas music playing in the background, the mood was set and the kids were excited. In all reality, it was a bittersweet time. You see, as a tradition, we get our children an ornament every year - something that is significant to them. I don't think we have any typical store-bought ornaments - they are all ornaments that were John or mine growing up (presents or homemade), or ornaments that have been given to Lillia and Anabella.

The children all enjoyed unwrapping the ornaments, hearing the stories of who made what, and when, and decorating the tree. The bittersweet part was the realization we all had, quietly in our hearts, that all of our children hadn't been with us to celebrate Christmas for each of their years. There were no ornaments for four of our children - no stories to tell of their youth. No special memories to laugh about from Christmas-past.

Olesya summed it up best when she said, "We still at Detsky Dom, right Mama?"

The kids didn't really have many memories to share about Christmas - just Mariyana and Sasha had some stories to share from school, and what they had done at school for Christmas. Our friends from Odessa, the Andersons, had shared with us that New Year's is a much bigger holiday in Ukraine than Christmas, and so we weren't very surprised with their limited experiences and memories.

Unwrapping ornaments and sharing stories...


Christmas lights - shining in the darkness of night. Just like our Saviour whom we celebrate at Christmas...


After the tree was decorated, we gathered together on the floor around the tree with Christmas cookies (brought over by our neighbors) and hot chocolate, and read the Christmas story. A wonderful ending to a special night.