I suppose Santa could place me at the top of his Naughty List this year. I haven’t written a blog post in weeks. Egads! In my defense, I’ve been just as busy as Santa and his elves. Heck. I was up for 41 hours straight at one point. Surely Santa can relate to this kind of sleep deprivation. In addition, I spent great care this year decorating the house for Santa Claus. I’m positive Santa will love the Christmas decor changes I made in his honor. I even mixed up my Christmas cookie selection for him. Yessiree. I hope Santa truly appreciates the moose and bear cookies I made from my cookie cutters I bought in Anchorage this year. I’ll admit. I’m not going to make these cookies again next year. No siree. I didn’t have a jolly good time making them like I had anticipated. However, my brother Brian had a jolly good time eating the broken cookies. Ho Ho Ho! I hope you all have a jolly good time seeing my Christmas ornaments for 2023. Merry Christmas my sweet friends!
Kennebunkport, Maine is one of my favorite destinations. My Skytress friend Jennie Lou and I would always rent a car and drive to Kennebunkport on our Portland, Maine layovers. We loved checking out the quaint shops in town. We always spent too much money in Kennebunkport. But, that was perfectly fine with us. We never encountered President Bush 41 or President Bush 43. But, we drove by their house along the water just in case they were there and wanted to invite us in. Heck. We believed in Christmas miracles. This ornament will forever remind me of Jennie Lou and our incredible adventures of flying together.
My family spent many summers in Ponce Inlet, Florida with our dear family friends. I cherish those summers. The laughter would start at 6am when we would go for a walk on the beach. Then the laughter would continue late into the evenings. Ponce Inlet was the perfect backdrop for hanging out with all my favorite people. This little boat ornament is filled with extraordinary memories. It hangs on the mantle garland so I can easily see it and feel the love of those precious times.
I added a few new ornaments to our tree this year. I had a marvelous time on my 30-hour Nashville layover. So, of course, I had to get a couple ornaments to commemorate my layover there. Of course, they had to be musical themed ornaments, too. Anything else would have been completely out of tune. Ho Ho Ho!
My first Anchorage layover I dragged my crew down 4th street to find some Christmas ornaments. The ornaments definitely had to say “Anchorage” on them. Unfortunately, most of the ornaments we found only said “Alaska”. Heck. I needed the ornaments to have “Anchorage” on them so I could differentiate these ornaments from my Fairbanks ornaments. Yessiree. One day much older me will appreciate this foresight. Finding ornaments with “Anchorage” on them was not an easy assignment for my crew and me. But, we persevered and we eventually found some. I happily bought two Christmas ornaments and then we took off to bike along the coast of Anchorage. I found better Anchorage ornaments on subsequent layovers. However, I didn’t buy any of them. Two ornaments from Anchorage are sufficient for me. Plus, the memories of my crew helping me find the ornaments is really the gift I treasure most.
This year Ron’s sister, Sherri, gifted me Christmas ornaments that belonged to Ron. I was touched beyond words by her lovely gesture. Obviously, each ornament is my favorite. But, of course!
If you know me, you know Cardinals have a special place in my heart. My Skytress friend Cindy gifted me a Cardinal ornament this year. It’s the only Cardinal ornament I have hanging on our tree. But, it lovingly represents the many dear loved-ones that are no longer with us at Christmas.
I hope you all enjoyed my Christmas tradition of sharing my beloved ornaments and the stories behind them. I know you all look fondly at your Christmas ornaments hanging from your trees and think about the people and places they represent. I pray they fill your heart with Christmas joy each and every year. Merry Christmas and God bless, my sweet friends.
“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people”
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” Luke 2:10-11