Our Christmas Tree 2016

When Cohen was born I decided to start buying Christmas ornaments when; we traveled, to mark significant events that occurred during the year, or to represent something that Cohen loves. I love adding a couple new ornaments each year and remembering the fun times we have had together. This year it occurred to me that I should be buying two ornaments instead of just one. One for me and Jeff and one for Cohen to keep when he moves away from home (and if he isn't sentimental and doesn't care, like Jeff believes he will be, we can just keep them...the more the merrier, right?). So, since I have come to this realization, I have been letting Cohen select his own ornaments. It's been very entertaining watching him pick out his ornament(s).

2016 Ornaments:

Grandpa Anderson: My dad made us 5 beautiful ornaments that he gave us when he came out to visit earlier this month. I love the ornaments that my dad makes. They are so special to me and I know I will treasure them for always.

Disney Cruise: In September Jeff, Cohen and I joined my family and Jeff's sister's family (Sharon, Ben and Atticus) on a Disney Cruise to the Caribbean. We had a fantastic time and I can't wait till we can cruise again...especially if we get to go with the same amazing people!

AMNH - American Museum of Natural History (NYC): When I lived in New York the first time I probably only visited AMNH 4 times and it was alway when someone came to visit. Well, we have been in the city for two months and Cohen and I have already gone twice. He's constantly talking about going to see the dinosaur bones. Last time we went he learned in a video that the dinosaurs died and he had a hard time coming to grips with that. I decided since dinosaur bones have become a favorite of Cohen's, I should buy him a dinosaur ornament from the museum shop. I picked mine out and was planning on buying the matching one for Cohen, but Cohen saw a different one and insisted on getting that one instead. He has been pulling it off the tree everyday this week and playing with it. He loves it!

Three Little Bells from the Murch's: The Sunday before we moved to New York, Brother Murch walked up to me and handed me two little wooden boxes (with three little bells inside). He also gave me a letter that told the story of It's a Wonderful Life and how every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings. They hopped every time we heard the bells ring we would remember our time spent in the Eatontown 2nd ward.

Move to New York City: One of the biggest events of our year was moving to NYC. We have been working on this move since June 2015,  so I thought it was important to get an ornament to document the event. Cohen has been obsessed with riding the subway. He asks everyday to go to the train station to ride the train. I have even taken him for a ride on the subway just to turn around and come straight back. This boy loves his trains. So, I took Cohen to the NYC Transit Museum store in Grand Central Station. They have a holiday train display up and Cohen sat and watch the Polar Express going around and around for over 30 minutes. We bought two little glass subway cars to go on our tree. Cohen insisted on getting the red train, he wouldn't hear of getting anything else. :)