Countdown Day

Goodbye 2015.
All is well in the Keweenaw.

Wrapping It Up

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas. Our first Christmas in our new home was white and wonderful. My mom was here with us from Friday until Monday, and we had a great time with her watching some good old John Wayne movies. I made a nice ham for our Christmas dinner and we enjoyed leftovers for several days. 

We're now at the end of another year, and we'll soon be putting up our new calendar and writing 2016 on all our checks. Can you believe it? 2016? Only 4 more years until 2020! That's just crazy!

2015 was definitely memorable. We're so thankful for all the Lord has done for us this year. He continues to bless us far more than we deserve. To wrap it up, I'll leave you with some more photos of our Christmas decor.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Sunday Reflections

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Merry Christmas!

All is well (and white) in the Keweenaw!

Reason for the Season

All is well in the Keweenaw.

#3 - The Keweenaw Tree

When I was preparing this post about our third tree, I realized we do already have a fourth tree I should tell you about. Do you see it in the foreground?

That small white ceramic tree with red bulbs is one that's been around since my mom purchased it when I was still in elementary school. It was made by a blind lady, and I've always liked it. I have seen similar ceramic trees through the years, but they've all been green. 

Now, on to the Keweenaw Tree in the great room. Let's start at the top. The star is outlined in a bronze color - an often-used metal in our Keweenaw home.

I was thrilled to get this star topper on an after-Christmas clearance at Walmart last year - another screamin' deal at $1.09! 

Now, let's go to the bottom and check out my tree skirt. Steve is a hunter and he had 2 tanned deer hides, so why not use them under the tree? I first used them for this purpose when we lived in Saginaw, but it seems even more appropriate up here under our Keweenaw Tree.

Moving on to the ornaments:  I already told you about my handmade contributions to the Keweenaw Tree. Here's a photo recap.

Since snowflakes are representative of the Keweenaw, we have 2 colors of glittered snowflakes - white & bronze. 

We have pine trees everywhere, so pine cones had to be featured on this tree. I already had some that were glittered on the tips, and I purchased 2 packages of other cones - some shiny - some matte - some covered fully in glitter.

I purchased some ornaments in a woodland assortment that had colors like champagne, deep reds and dark browns. The reds reminded me of thimbleberries, and I also bought some ornaments in icicle shapes in champagne and bronze. 

The ornaments were all hung on the tree after I put on the 8 strands of shiny copper beaded garland. The Keweenaw is called "the copper country." The copper beads are a nod to our copper mining history. (Plus, I love copper!)

Let's step back and gaze at the finished tree a while. This is the view from in back of the sofa.

I stood in the dining area and/or the kitchen for the next 2 shots.

And, I had to get some photos from the loft.

You can see the Keweenaw Tree when you enter the house - whether you come in the front door or the garage door. It's definitely the focal point.

I was able to capture all 3 Christmas trees when I snapped the last photo from the loft. The Keweenaw tree is centered between the patio doors - and the Memory Tree in the loft & the Grandma Tree in the foyer are reflected in the trapezoid windows.

I hope you had as much fun decorating for Christmas as I did. I'll try to share a post about some of our other Christmas decor soon after Christmas.

Don't eat too much!

All is well in the Keweenaw.

#2 - The Memory Tree

The new 9-foot Christmas tree in the great room is pre-lit with white lights. Since Steve is a fan of multi-colored lights, I wanted to make sure we had those on the Memory Tree. 

The Memory Tree is the 6.5-footer in the loft.

We're still using a temporary loft railing (to discourage folks from falling over the edge) made from scrap pieces of wood that will soon be replaced with something much nicer. I tried to dress it up a bit with garland and some old Christmas stockings, but I think I actually drew attention to it. Just ignore that ugly railing in the background of the shots of this tree. It won't be there next Christmas - I promise!

The Memory Tree is mostly a hodgepodge of unique ornaments. Some represent us as a couple.

Some represent family.

Some represent Steve.

Some represent me.

Some show that I like Coca Cola Classic and Steve likes the Spartans. 

And some are special and/or handmade ornaments that have been received as gifts through the years.

The stuffed animals I received as Christmas gifts from Steve (that all came with special pieces of jewelry) have planted themselves beneath the Memory Tree - except for a stuffed puppy who decided he liked sleeping on the guest room bed better. 

Since I'm not really that into stuffed animals at my age, all of these guys sleep in the bins with the rest of the Christmas stuff the rest of the year! 

So, there's our Memory Tree. It's always fun to look at the ornaments and think about the special memories connected with each one.

There's even a special blue one near the top to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.

All is well in the Keweenaw.