Today’s blog is part of the Comfy Cozy Christmas, hosted by Lisa and Erin.  Their blogs/websites can be found in the above graphic. By going to their sites, you will be able to read Christmas themed blogs by other participants.

I have probably mentioned in past blogs about this tradition, but have never devoted an entire blog to it.  At the encouragement of one of our hosts, I am doing that now.

If you were to do a search on ‘things to do when visiting Michigan,” it is often recommended that you stop by Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland.  The world’s largest Christmas store.

It truly is an amazing place.  You could easily spend a few hours there finding the perfect Christmas ornament.  We are lucky that we don’t live very far from there.

Our tradition was actually started by Sam before we were even dating.  She and I do the same work (sleep technologist) and that’s how we met.  When she graduated from the program, she bought an ornament for her tree. There are no real “sleep tech” ornaments, so she went with one that had scrubs on it.

The idea was that she wanted to have an ornament on the tree that was a reminder of the “big event” of that year.  The following year was the year that she bought the home we currently live in. 

Sam and I were just friends when she bought her house.  Soon after, we began dating and fell in love.  She changed my life and I couldn’t imagine life without her.  I proposed Sweetest Day weekend while in a horse drawn carriage in Frankenmuth. She said yes less than a mile or so from Bronner’s! That year’s “event” was our engagement.

It goes without saying that when we were married a few months later, that was to be the big event of that year. There were plenty of wedding themed ornaments, but we liked this one best.

The bigger bulbs like that make it so easy for them to personalize.

Our first year of marriage brought about our first fur baby. A cat that sadly is no longer with us named Moe.

We’ve talked about getting some sort of ornament with the other pets, but each year after had bigger events. At some point I suppose we’ll get around to it…

In 2019, Sam was expecting. She was 7 months pregnant at Christmas. One of my favorite pictures is of her standing in front of the tree showing her baby bump. I just loved the “You, Me and Then Baby Makes Three” ornament.

The year 2020 brought COVID to the world. The world shut down and almost every Christmas tree had some sort of ornament that had surgical masks or toilet paper on it! For us, however, we welcomed our first child together, our daughter Ella.

I loved this ornament because they were able to put her name, birthday, weight, etc.. on it. One Christmas later, when Andrew was born, we went back and got the same ornament… In blue.

We try to go before Thanksgiving to get our yearly ornament. After that, it tends to be extremely busy at Bronner’s. When we went last year, there really hadn’t been any “big event.” We decided to get a plaque to hang on the main entry door.

After our trip to Bronner’s, tragedy struck as Sam’s sister Grace passed away. Her presence is missed daily. I decided that I wanted to do something for Sam and her parents. So I went to Bronner’s on my own and had a memorial ornament personalized with Grace’s name for both of them. Ours hangs near the top of the tree.

We’re a bit behind this year. We’ve had so many medical appointments and such with Andrew that we have yet to go to Bronner’s. I suppose the big event is getting our puppy, Daisy. I would imagine that they have some sort of ornament that will fit that event.

Sam and I will probably take our tradition and change it up a bit next year. I’d guess we’ll continue to get that one “event” ornament, but we think next year, we’ll have each kid pick out an ornament for themselves to hang on the tree. I have a feeling that will be something they will always remember.

I’d love to hear about your annual traditions!