Family Ornament Tradition 2022

Now that it’s December, let’s talk all about one of our favorite family traditions! I’m talking about our Christmas Ornament Tradition. Every year I order our children a few ornaments that represent the year. I think about their interests, a special moment from vacation, activities they are involved in, etc.

Once I have a list of monumental moments, I scour Etsy to find the perfect ornaments that represent our year. This can take a while for me to do, especially since I try to order mostly felt ornaments. You may be asking… WHY FELT? You can read all about that part of the tradition HERE.

It can take quite some time for all of the ornaments to arrive because they are coming from small shops all over the world! For the very reason, I start looking for ornaments in September or October.

Now that we have all of our ornaments for the year, let’s look at what I chose for the kiddos.

Oh, of course we need some Christmas pajamas for this tradition :). I found these Santa pajamas at the Gap. These sweet little Christmas jammies have Santas with all different skin tones. I love these because you don’t have to choose a skin color! You get a diverse mix of Santas all on one pj!

Israel’s pajamas / Joelle’s pajamas

Joelle’s Ornaments for 2022

Joelle’s ornaments for the year represent some of our favorite trips AND her love of sneakers!

1. Broadway Ornament – We saw Hamilton in New York City for her birthday this year. We celebrated Joelle becoming a teenager… can you believe it?!
2. Nike Shoebox Ornament – This teenager LOVES sneakers.
3. African Wild Dog – We saw wild dogs for the first time on our safari in Zimbabwe this year. It was a very special moment.
4. Humpback Whale – Joelle and I LOVED watching the whales in Maui over spring break. We spent countless hours spotting them from our condo.

Israel’s Ornaments for 2022

Israel’s ornament selection is similar to Joelle’s, but he has a box of crayons to represent his love of drawings, writing, and coloring. He is such a creative soul, so I wanted to capture that this year!

1. African Wild Dog – Israel had seeing wild dogs on his bucket list. Our safari guide made that happen on our very FIRST day of safari in Zimbabwe. He literally found them as we were driving from the airstrip to the lodge!
2. Crayons – If you came over to our house at any given moment, you would find Israel drawing, coloring, or creating a book. His creativity amazes me!
3. Zimbabwe Flag – Israel LOVES flags and learning about other countries. This flag ornament will forever remind him of our time in Zimbabwe!
4. NYC Subway – This ornament represents our New York trip. We rode the subway a few times, and all modes of transportation intrigue Israel.

Family Ornaments

Some years I also do a family ornament. This year I ordered the characters in Hamilton because that was just such a special moment for our family. Everyone just sat in awe during that entire musical. I knew I had to get something that always reminds us of that moment! Also, how adorable are they?!

And that’s a wrap for 2022! Our kids will take these ornaments with them when they are grown (IF I can part from them, ha!). I hope they look back on these with fond memories that we made as a family.

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