When we left the UK, with the teeny tiny air freight shipping allowance (which was almost entirely taken up by the kids toys, books and clothes), our Christmas decorations had to be left behind.
When we celebrated our first Christmas here in the US I went out and bought a tree and enough decorations to make it look pretty. A few extra sets of lights and a wreath for the front door made us feel Christmassy, and was good enough. But it wasn’t quite the same.
When our entire house contents arrived in a container over the summer, I knew that our Christmas boxes were in there somewhere. I was more excited about them than anything else, even my shoes!
Today, I began to unpack our decorations. Old favourites were discovered, and rediscovered. Santa hats were worn.
There are still a few things to find in the garage, the boxes really are never ending! And there are decisions to be made as we combine the new and the old. The American and the British. Colour schemes, styles, duplicates.
Decorations don’t make Christmas, friends and family do, but when you are far from home the familiar is important. Christmas is one time of the year when the familiar really can make all the difference.
Three years after the boxes were last packed, there were a few forgotten gems. But mainly, the boxes were special and memory filled. They had been missed, and unpacking them was really quite magical.
I bet you was excited lol. I know when my nephew went to canada they couldnt wait for their stuff to arrive. Hope it makes it a very special christmas
Thank you, it’s lovely looking around and seeing all our bits and pieces x
I bet it feels more like home now :-)
It really does, I keep finding myself smiling :)
Ahh I would be so excited too. All that time without even your shoes is a long time. Bet it’s like home in your new home now :)
Lol, I did miss my shoes :) It’s lovely rediscovering all our bits and bobs x
Ahh lovely! So special to have those with you now finally! You’re right decorations don’t ‘make’ Christmas, but they can definitely add the extra cherry on top :)
They really do :)
A fellow ex-UK family blogger! I’m with you all the way on unpacking the decorations, I love it. And adding one or two new ones to the collection every year. This year we’re doing a monster-length road-trip home with the new baby so our house is devoid of tree and decorations will stay in the box. I feel a bit sad about it. On the massive plus side, we’ve got a new baby to show off :) Have a wonderful festive season! – #MagicMoments
And that is definitely a massive plus side :) Enjoy your trip!
I can’t imagine moving halfway around the world and not even having my Christmas decorations full of memories of the kids growing up! I bet you were so excited when December arrived and you were able to pop open the boxes and peer inside at all your Christmas memories! Popping by from Magic Moments.
I have been looking forward to opening these particular boxes, I have to say :)
Oh that is lovely, must be nice to have some things to remind you of home x
Thank you, it is x
How exciting to be unpacking the Christmas boxes again and reliving memories from the last Christmas when they were used. Sounds like you had a magical time unpacking them :-) #whatsthestory
It was lovely, lots of memories x
I can imagine how important unpacking those memories must have been. How lovely for you to have them all with you now x
Thank you Iona, it was wonderful x
Aww! How lovely! So special to get those treasured decorations back out.
Thank you Kim x
Aw must have been lovely going through them all again, I know they are only things but sounds like they hold so many memories! Xx
Exactly, it’s the memories more than anything else x
Ah that is so lovely, I am glad you have your treasures back x #MagicMoment
Thank you Aby x
So lovely. I always feel like decorating the tree is quite magical, but this makes it all much more magical. #magicmoments
Absolutely, I love decorating our tree x
I’m sure it was all magical! This Christmas must be so special for you, all nostalgia and excitement :)
Thank you x
Beautiful trimmings! My boxes come out of the attic steps once a year, and I’m giddy with excitement. I can only imagine what it must be like for you and your family! It will certainly make for a happy Christmas #magicmoments
Decorating the tree is one of my favourite things :)
I can understand your feelings on this…
We rented a house for twelve months with the intention of buying one so, me being optimistic, only unpacked what we really needed and the rest stayed in boxes. So when we moved twelve months later, it was quite nice to be unpacking things I’d actually forgotten about.
Lovely post, Sara X
It’s funny the things that you miss, but also the things that you forget about :) Some lovely surprises!
That’s so lovely! I totally know what you mean about the sentimental value of decorations. We’re building up a collection of our own now, but I love helping to decorate my parents’ tree with ornaments going back to when I was little… It definitely helps to add to the magic of Christmas! Xx
It really does, and although we don’t yet have a huge collection, we do already have decorations that hold memories x