You are looking at my favorite of the three trees in the house. There is the “big tree” in the living room, a table top tree in the office, and this six and a half foot narrow tree in the TV room. What makes this tree so special? Every year we have placed a photo ornament of each of the grand kids on this tree since they were infants. When they turn eighteen we place their last ornament on the tree. This year the youngest grandchild turned eighteen, so the tree is complete with seventy-two memories of Christmas past. Every ornament is a trip down memory lane and a reminder of the importance of family. Have a blessed Christmas.

I usually save this song for later in the marathon but I decided to move it up in the order this year. “O Holy Night” is a Christmas classic and has been covered by virtually every artist with vocal chords. Some have performed this song very well, but I don’t think there is a more appropriate vocalist for this song than David Phelps. You really need to listen to this through a good set of speakers.

Another classic that I usually reserve for late in the marathon is the Hallelujah Chorus. I love everything about the concept of this video.

May your Christmas and your heart be filled with the glory that is Christ and His amazing, saving grace. To God be the Glory!

One family Christmas tradition has been for the grand kids to help Nana bake Christmas goodies. The top image is from 2002 while the lower image is from 2018. The grandcrew are grown now and their schedules don’t always allow for baking with Nana. Hopefully they will get to spend an afternoon together this year.

Not So Wordless Wednesday

Last Saturday evening the family attended the high school choral department Christmas concert. It was wonderful. There are over 300 students involved in the program and there is a whole lot of talent. In the last photo, the young man in the center of the top row is our grandson. He is our youngest grand child and this is his senior year. I would encourage you to seek out local holiday celebrations and attend whenever possible. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

If you have visited this blog in the past ten days then you are aware that I am in the middle of my annual Christmas Music Marathon. Curious as a Cathy has been kind enough to put a link on her blog and I cannot thank her enough for that kind gesture.

Over the years I typically share some of the ornaments that adorn the trees in our house. Yes, I said trees. This year there are three Christmas trees in our home. Nearly every ornament you have seen so far is on one of the trees. Today I’d like to feature some very special ornaments. These decorations are very simple, but very durable. In fact these ornaments have adorned the main tree in our home for forty-seven years. They were on the first tree my wife and I bought after we were married in 1974.

Just in case you were wondering, I provide all of the photographs for my blog. Some are shot on my phone, some with my compact mirrorless camera, and some are taken with my Nikon DSLR. Photograpy has been a hobby of mine for decades. I am still in the intermediate amateur class, but I love capturing images of the world around me. I’ll give you a little more info on the equipment at a later date. The image above was captured with my newly acquired compact Canon M50 mirrorless camera, coupled with a Canon 24mm f2.8 lens.