The Tree means to me....

When I was a little girl the family would load up in the car and head up North to find the perfect tree, which was usually somewhat lopsidey, but smelled fab.  Then we stopped doing that and moved on to buying at a local tree lot.  My parents are big Noble Fir people, and therefore, so am I.  I love the shape.  Point here is.....it was live tree or NOTHIN baby.  The smell, the look the feel, it was all dreamy.  And the thought I had was....fake trees are soooo LAME and sooo ugly.  And let's be honest, they have come a LONG way since the 80's.

Fast forward many years, the kids are all getting older, life is apparently more busy and burdened and there just wasn't time for no stinkin tree hunting.  So, my parentals moved on to a fake tree.  It was a BIG downer.  Maybe because the one they bought wasn't as big as they thought, so we always had to put it on top of a box, which was precarious at best.  Plus, no more pretty smell.  But, we still got it all decorated in all it's glory and it was lovely.

Fast forward MORE years, I'm married, out on my own and we live in a small apartment.  There is no space, nor no money to buy a big tree, so I get three adorable little trees that fit perfectly in the corner.

I decorated it with wee ornaments that matched the feel of the tree.

Then we moved into this house and were blessed with a beautiful FAKE tree from my MIL.

A picture of the tree last year  and one from this year.  I must say, I enjoy my bookshelf there now...makes the room feel more anchored. But that's niether here nor there in this story.  Moving on.......
It's so hard to get a good picture of the tree, because the lights either make no appearance or over light.  Plus, it sort of looks like a hot mess this way, but I promise, it is really pretty.

Point is, I'm ok with the fake trees.  Though I do miss the smell of the real ones, I don't miss the pain of watering them, having to put lights on them and the mess of needles.

As we ALL know now...I love tradition.  I love to hold on to old things for their sentiment and memories  and there are some special ornaments on my tree that bring back such fond memories for me.

My Mom made each of us kids one of these horses in 1979 as our decoration for the tree.  Some were red, some were white.  I loved these little clothespin horsies, and I treasure mine and put it in a place of honor each year.  You know, come to think of it, we used to get new ornaments every year, wonder where all the rest of mine are?  Hmmmmm

Jere bought me these little nativity ornaments the first Christmas we were dating.

I have a thing for angels, a carry over from my Moms tree.

This was given to me by a church member in Indiana, where I served my mission.  She made it herself, and I just love it.

This was given to me Christmas morning by another church member in Indiana. And at some point, right after opening this and our other presents I got extremely ill and spent the rest of my Christmas looking gree and living in the bathroom.  It was awful.  But, on the upside this is still one of my favorite ornaments.

Many years ago I sang for my friends Andrea and Taras Grandfathers funeral.

As a thankyou they made me this angel ornament.

I love her.

Also many years ago, in another lifetime it seems; my friend Jen made this ceramic angel ornament.  It reminds me of another, simpler time in my life.

On my very first Christmas away from home, as a missionary in Indiana, I was struggling with some homesickness.  One day a big box arrived, and in it was a sweet little mini Christmas tree with decorations on it.  My Mom had sent me Christmas in a box.  This sweet little drum was given to me by a member in my first area and I proudly placed it on my sweet little tree.  I have carried this drum around with me for the last 15 years.

The Christmas before we got married Jere took me back to Chicago to meet his Gramma and extended family for the first time.  Truth be told, I really love his little town he grew up in.  There is a great craft store that was by his Grammas house and I would hit that place up after Christmas for their sales.  I bought these little mittens that first Christmas and they always remind me of the wonderful trip.

Each year we pick out a new family ornament and I absolutely love them.

Well, except the Christmas tree one I got between these two, I don't love it.

Can't wait to see what we find this year.

Now I'm ready to start a new tradition of taking the kids each year to pick out their own ornament.  I love all the wonderful memories that each ornament invokes.  And I'm quite sure each of these ornaments will continue to make their way onto our tree every year for as long as we so shall decorate.

What are some of your favorite ornaments or Christmas memories?  And why?

Shiny balls and twinkly lights,

Allyson

P.S.  I've lost TWO followers in the last 2 weeks.  What is up with that?  Merry Christmas to you too.  (for the record, I'm not sitting here crying over it, or super lamenting.  It just makes me wonder, that is all)

P.P.S.  Totally fell asleep on the couch last night, makeup, bra and all.  I feel gross right now.  Off to shower it up before this busy day begins.

P.P.P.S  Jers car is FINALLY fixed, thanks to an amazing new neighbor that is mechanically inclined and charged very little.  Yay for Christmas miracles!  Came just in time too, as he starts a new part time job, plus rehearsals for his new show, and will be needing his own wheels a lot this month.