I Re-Decorated the Tree
Tyler found the problem, solved the problem with only a small amount of smoke and we're back in business!
I guess this is the "third" tree I've decorated this year....certainly not a record and it's probably not the last for the year! I even got to put the ornaments in different places so I'm getting to see some ornaments that have been on the back side of the tree. Fun for me!
Do you like to look at your ornaments and remember? Maybe people decorate their trees with things that aren't sentimental, but many of our ornaments mean something.
For as long as I can remember, my mom made it a point to pick up an ornament when we traveled. A shell from a beach town, a wooden ornament from somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, or a trolly ornament from San Francisco. I loved that tradition and carried on long into adulthood.
But after Tyler and I got married there were many years when we did not have a tree. I guess it started because the first year we were married we spent Christmas in Utah. There was no need to get a tree just for the two of us, especially since we were going to be gone. It seemed like such a waste. And so, even when we were at home we never got a big tree and I never pulled out my box of ornaments. And the tradition of collecting ornaments from my travels fell out of my routine and out of my mind.
So on our honeymoon and on our fifth anniversary we visited Sundance, Utah and I didn't get an ornament. I flew to Montreal and Philadelphia and Florida for conferences. We traveled to Monterey, California. We camped a few times. We drove to Oregon twice. And as recently as last year we went to Hawaii and to Boston and I do not have one ornament from any of those places.
I sound bitter, but really I am not. I have lots of pictures and some journals entries and other souvenirs from those places. Isn't the reason we collect things in the first place because of the "memories." Fortunately, I still have those.
During those years of living without a Christmas tree and without traveling-memories, we did begin to collect other important ornaments. We've had two very special years that were a "First Christmas." And this is another "First Christmas" year!
The year before we got a tree my brother-in-law interned in the Office of the Vice President. He brought us this beautiful Christmas tree anyway! It says, "White House Christmas 2008." I am so thankful he considered it worthwhile to share such a special gift. Because in his Christmas-loving-heart not having a tree was Scrooge-ish and sacrilegious and un-American.
Then in 2009 we spent half a year living at his house. We pushed a wall out and had a room added to our home and it was a mess. It was a very long year for a lot of us! It was that year that Tyler surprised us all and secretly searched Balsam Hill and had a 9 1/2' tree delivered to our new house! So after 8 years of marriage, 2 kids, 8 years without a tree and months of being displaced, we did first things first and put up the tree!
A few years ago, before having kids, our church put up a Family Christmas tree. Everyone was encouraged to put an ornament on the tree that represented their family. I've always loved this log cabin quilt and how it symbolizes Home! The red "heart" in the middle surrounded by the "hearth" of home. It was perfect then and it's perfect now! And now it also gets to be front-and-center on my tree!
How do you decorate your tree?
I guess this is the "third" tree I've decorated this year....certainly not a record and it's probably not the last for the year! I even got to put the ornaments in different places so I'm getting to see some ornaments that have been on the back side of the tree. Fun for me!
Do you like to look at your ornaments and remember? Maybe people decorate their trees with things that aren't sentimental, but many of our ornaments mean something.
For as long as I can remember, my mom made it a point to pick up an ornament when we traveled. A shell from a beach town, a wooden ornament from somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, or a trolly ornament from San Francisco. I loved that tradition and carried on long into adulthood.
I picked up my own Powell and Hyde Cable Car on my own trip to San Francisco in ~1993.
A paddle wheel boat from St. Louis, Missouri (~1996)
Sail boat from Baltimore in 1997.
Slate heart from Washington, D.C. (the same trip in 1997)
A gold plated Aspen leaf from Aspen, Colorado (~2000)
But after Tyler and I got married there were many years when we did not have a tree. I guess it started because the first year we were married we spent Christmas in Utah. There was no need to get a tree just for the two of us, especially since we were going to be gone. It seemed like such a waste. And so, even when we were at home we never got a big tree and I never pulled out my box of ornaments. And the tradition of collecting ornaments from my travels fell out of my routine and out of my mind.
So on our honeymoon and on our fifth anniversary we visited Sundance, Utah and I didn't get an ornament. I flew to Montreal and Philadelphia and Florida for conferences. We traveled to Monterey, California. We camped a few times. We drove to Oregon twice. And as recently as last year we went to Hawaii and to Boston and I do not have one ornament from any of those places.
I sound bitter, but really I am not. I have lots of pictures and some journals entries and other souvenirs from those places. Isn't the reason we collect things in the first place because of the "memories." Fortunately, I still have those.
During those years of living without a Christmas tree and without traveling-memories, we did begin to collect other important ornaments. We've had two very special years that were a "First Christmas." And this is another "First Christmas" year!
And we've started to accumulate the kid's creations that come along with preschoolers!
Calvin's artwork from 2010
Calvin's very first craft project! (2007)
And of course there are lots of kid-friendly (unbreakable) ornaments!
Both old and new.
The year before we got a tree my brother-in-law interned in the Office of the Vice President. He brought us this beautiful Christmas tree anyway! It says, "White House Christmas 2008." I am so thankful he considered it worthwhile to share such a special gift. Because in his Christmas-loving-heart not having a tree was Scrooge-ish and sacrilegious and un-American.
Then in 2009 we spent half a year living at his house. We pushed a wall out and had a room added to our home and it was a mess. It was a very long year for a lot of us! It was that year that Tyler surprised us all and secretly searched Balsam Hill and had a 9 1/2' tree delivered to our new house! So after 8 years of marriage, 2 kids, 8 years without a tree and months of being displaced, we did first things first and put up the tree!
A few years ago, before having kids, our church put up a Family Christmas tree. Everyone was encouraged to put an ornament on the tree that represented their family. I've always loved this log cabin quilt and how it symbolizes Home! The red "heart" in the middle surrounded by the "hearth" of home. It was perfect then and it's perfect now! And now it also gets to be front-and-center on my tree!
How do you decorate your tree?
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