Our Annual Christmas Ornament

I was cracking up. Trevor called his mom wondering where his annual Christmas ornament was. She normally sends a Christmas ornament to us every year. We didn't get one this past Christmas. She's been spending much time in the Pacific North West with family, rather than her home in Hawaii. She said, "I looked, but all the ornaments up here are ugly."

I could only imagine a list of ugly ornaments...

• Sasquatch ornaments being #1
• Redwood tree ornaments
• a fish with a hook in its mouth ornaments
• pinecone or acorn with glitter on it for a ridiculous price
• Smokey the bear ornaments
• fruit and veggie ornaments reminiscent of farming

I'm not saying those are ugly-ugly.  I'm just saying it's not for us and if I know my mother-in-law, it's definitely not her, either.  

I love decorating, and since I have been with Trevor, the theme has been tropical since both of us are tropical people (he was raised in Hawaii, we met in Hawaii, and I'm proud to be part Ilocano). So, I'm very specific on what I put on display. Though, my sister's decorations dominated the holidays the last two years (hers are a mix of everything from snowmen, gingerbread, Christmas mice, candy canes, traditional Santa, angels, etc) I would love to open our holiday decorations up, again, too. I generally stick to one theme. She doesn't have a theme. Her theme is "if it's cute, it's on display."

For Christmas 2023, in the tradition, Trevor Claus sent his sons in Florida candy-stuffed Christmas stockings made of fabrics from Hawaii with Hawaiian print, so they could have something from where they were born. We got them from a booth at the monthly Aloha Fair (many of the vendors are Poly Mainlanders with ties to the islands or Hawaii locals who moved to the mainland). Going to the fair is my way of getting Trevor involved in OUR community without a membership card as well as mingling with people who understand pidgin, hear music he grew up with, and can let him be himself without question. As the fair grows in popularity, new vendors come out of the woodwork, too, as well as Hawaii locals traveling from other cities and counties to get to it.