Advent Calendar - Ornaments

Our tree isn't up yet and I thought there would no point in writing about ornaments (about which I am almost as passionate as genealogy) without being able to take pictures. However, I had to bring a couple boxes up to put together a care package for our newly wed son and daughter and was able to snap a photograph of one of my favorite ornaments. Then Heather wrote about baseball (about which I am more passionate than genealogy), and I was off and running.

Isn't it beautiful?  It is not the only cardinal or Cardinals ornament we have. There's the obligatory 2006 World Series ball which I'm not so fond of because it was an enormously frustrating season capped off by a bizarre post-season. I suppose we earned that post-season because in 2004, when the Cardinals played the most beautiful baseball I have ever seen (and I've seen lots), they inexplicably vanished for four games. Boston fans may remember them.

This bell is from 2004. It was a tough year for my family. Following the Cards, watching Edmonds, Rolen and Pujols (our MV3s) play superlative baseball night after night helped bring us through. There was heartbreak in the end, but I will never forget all those glorious games before. It was my favorite baseball season ever.

There is a family history link to baseball. My grandfather and great-uncle  played minor league ball and instilled a deep love of the game in my mother which she passed on to us.

There are lots (LOTS) of other ornaments yet to come up - ones from grandmothers' trees, dixie cup angels, lighthouses we've loved, straw ornaments from Slovakia, and more. But this is as special as any of them. Can't wait to get it up on the tree!