The World Traveler Tree

 The blog posts of last week were activities from November. The next six posts cover the busy month of December.

I enjoyed decorating for Christmas this year. I was able to display all the Christmas ornaments I have been collecting on our travels. The first step was finding all of them as they often were placed in locations other than the tub labeled Christmas ornaments. It was also fun to remember the location or trip where each ornament was purchased.

the Dala horse from Sweden

below it is the moose from Alaska

ornament from Oslo, Norway bottom right

yellow lemon from Naples, Italy also tucked in there

beer stein from a Kathe Wohlfahrt store in Stillwater MN

representing our visit to Munich, Germany in 2017

ornament from Hawaii

(OFD and I did shop at the original Kathe Wohlfahrt store in Rothenburg, Germany in 2017 but I did not buy any ornaments at that time.)

amber ornament from Tallinn, Estonia

beaded ornament from Guatemala

ornament from Klaipeda, Lithuania

cathedral ornament from Barcelona

kiwi Santa bird from New Zealand

Remember Everyone Deployed from Hubby's Midwest Honor Flight

colorful houses and cruise ship from Curacao

 better view of the Klaipeda turret

Norwegian cruise ship ornament

Eiffel Tower as the tree topper

This is just a fraction of the ornaments collected from our travels. I have an ornament of Mount Rushmore that I gave to my dad in 1999. I have handcrafted ornaments from Mexico that we purchased on our first family visit in 2001. Lots of fun memories to hang on the Christmas tree.

These Christmas trees used to be displayed in the park model. They had to be a certain size to fit the height of the space above the refrigerator cabinet. I have been collecting the trees for years. They found a home on the dining area sideboard. I was able to display the painted Christmas tree rock we found when geocaching. 

The skinny decorated tree in its place next to the sideboard with trees. 

the Willow Tree Nativity set

I purchased this set over several years, YEARS ago, like more than 25.  I waited until the local department store (Herbergers) had a coupon to help justify the cost of the expensive Christmas decor. This year I thought about adding the stable. OMG! One of the two choices (my preferred one) is priced at $186.99. The Holy Family will continue to be displayed without the creche.

Some of my followers may wonder how we are adjusting to being home (in SD) full-time. We have adjusted quite easily. Hubby has all the high school and college athletics he wants to attend and I have found community classes and culture options that interest me. Life is good!