Tuesday Tell All - O' Christmas Tree‏

O Christmas Tree,
O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches!

In beauty green will always grow

Through summer sun and winter snow.

O Christmas tree,
O Christmas tree,

How lovely are your branches!

O Christmas Tree,

O Christmas Tree.....

Tell us all your story.

What a wonderful thing to document this Christmas season.
I haven't been good at keeping a record of this special part of our home holiday decor. In fact, when I put my tree up last week and mentioned to my mom how much I love all my ornaments, she didn't realize what had been hanging from its branches for the past ten years. Just for the record Mom, I really had permission from you to take all these things, even if you only meant it for a short while and not forever!

I love getting to write about this, but fear one thing. That my brothers will read my post, see all my pictures and think that life isn't fair that their sister stole their tree. Yes, when Marcie asked the question "Does it remind us of our childhood Christmas trees....." I have to say no because it actually IS my childhood Christmas tree. How lucky am I? The luckiest I'd say.

But before I go into far too much detail about my tree, I wanted to share a few things I know about Christmas trees of old. I told my mom we were doing this topic last Saturday night and we got into a discussion about how our Christmas tree evolved over the years. When my Grandpa and Grandma Nance first got married my Grandma wanted a Ponderosa Pine (the big fluffy kind) and my Grandpa wanted a Blue Spruce. They had my Grandma's kind the first year, and then had a Blue Spruce every year after. (I also know they often had a white flocked tree decorated in the living room with the water bubble lights.) This influenced my own father and when we cut down Christmas trees for a few years, we always got a Blue Spruce. If you ever get one, BEWARE their needles are as sharp as the hypodermic kind. Be sure to wear shoes around them at all times and decorate them with a heavy duty long sleeve shirt on!

When you say the word Christmas tree, so many thoughts come to mind. I think of my Great-grandma Beardall's little tree on her table made from baby food jars a gift from a grandchild. I think of my Grandpa and Grandma Larsen's tree tucked off to the side making room for the many, many children and grandchildren in the room singing Christmas hymns while the big bay window fogged up in the cold night air. I think of the small trees my mom gave to each of us one year and the little plastic beads and ornaments we hung on them. I think of the sad Charlie Brown tree we had when I was three of four. I am sure each time any of us bumped it, more needles ended up on the floor than were left on the branches. I remember going up as a family and selecting a tree from our Christmas Tree lot and then having to cut and saw FOREVER and then shoving it in the back of the suburban to get it home. I think all of us kids were smashed against the windows trying to avoid getting pricked to death. I don't think we'll ever cut a tree down! I think of the huge green lit pine tree on Temple Square beautiful against the bright reds, blues, yellows and oranges surrounding it. I think of the all candy Christmas scenes in the ZMCI Center windows and the trees made from sugar and frosting. I think of the small Christmas tree decorations my mom made when she was first married made from pine cones and nuts. I think of standing next to a lit palm tree at the Polynesian Culture Center with flip flops on my feet and knowing that it wouldn't feel like Christmas until I stepped off the plane and felt that crisp, dry Utah air. I think of the twinkling lights of the floating trees on Salem pond, creating a mirror image in the water below. What a picturesque scene, a gift from my little city bringing the Christmas spirit to all.

As I think back to Christmas trees and decorations of my youth I remember the handmade felt ornaments my mom made when they were first married. There were lovely pink angles, handsome tin men, stars, trees, and teddy bears all cut, sewed and glued by my mom. Next came the sewn stuffed horses that had paint brushes for sticks. Next came my favorite of all, all the decorations hanging on my tree.

When we moved up the street, my mom got VERY ambitious and we started putting up two trees. The first was in the family room and the second was an artificial Blue Spruce with pink and blue blown glass ornaments that matched the living room. Jeff and Sarah will be sharing more about that tree today on their blog. As the kids got older, my mom's love of snowman became apparent when she only decorated her mantel and tree with snowman. It's the cutest tree around. It is even topped with a stuffed animal snowman. Since we still had boxes of ornaments and another family room in the basement, we put up a third tree down there just for us kids. What a treat it was to have the glow of Christmas lights shining into my bedroom.

Then I got married to Rich and saw another side of Christmas tree decorating. The kind that could set you back weeks and could bring an added stress to the holiday season until it was done. In Rich's parents Great Room, you can find a 15 foot tree adorned with ribbons and bows and set up on boxes allowing for an entire glass Christmas village to be found at the foot and a train encircling it all. Wow. I don't know if I'll ever become that kind of Christmas tree decorator, but feel so lucky to enjoy theirs each year. It is a beautiful sight to see.

And now to my favorite tree of all. The one located in my own family room. I am so happy to call it mine. The tree is the first artificial one my parents purchased years ago and it's a perfect tree despite missing a limb in two places. When I put on the lights each year, I can think of my dad standing around it wrapping each branch until it all shone bright. We store the tree in the same Bowflex box my parents used for years. I laugh each time I see it. The ornaments are the most precious part. Every one, old and new hold special memories of happy times and people we love.We have a "Sweet Angie" angel on top just like my dad did growing up. We bought her when I was small and I have always thought she is lovely. These are my favorite ornaments. My mom drew and painted each one. There are more patterns, but I didn't want to pull them all off and have to try to remember where to hang them. I remember her tracing the pictures in pencil and then carefully painting each line. They are the prettiest things on the tree.I also love these braided wheat ones. I remember my mom soaking the wheat in water until it was soft enough to bend. These must have taken so much time and I'm always the one to hang these so I can be extra gentle and not damage their fragile parts.I remember the year we got these darling reindeer. We have a set of 12. McDonald's was selling them and we went back more than once to get enough for the tree. They are so cute. We also have red apples and gold beads from my parents as well.Rich and I got this ornament from his Palo Alto ward when we were engaged (1996). It always reminds me of our first Christmas together.Rich's mom gave us this ornament when we shared our first married Christmas together in 1997. Last year I found these darling little sleds with most (well 3 out of 5) of the kids names on them at Macy's. I had to buy them because I love Miracle on 34th Street and thought it was the perfect place to purchase Christmas ornaments. I got blank ones for Brynn and Trey and wrote their names in pen myself. I tried to put them all up on the top section of the tree close together. Rich and I have our names on two clear plastic snowman next to the sleds. My one ornament from Louisville Stoneware. Before I move, I am going to return to their shop downtown and buy some serious Kentucky mementos! These next three were gifts from the boys. I love when I'm present with something they made for us on Christmas. And I love it even more when there is a cute picture too.Josh and Matt made theirs at preschool last year.
Trey's was from 2004. I loves seeing how much they change every year.I bought this at a little shop in Playa del Carmen, Mexico just days after Christmas 2005. We flew down on Christmas day and spent a wonderful week with our boys and my family in an all inclusive resort.This was a wedding favor from our dear Louisville neighbors Bill and Pat. Pat made them all and inscribed on the back is wedding date and shared birthday, December 16.The boys and I painted these wooden ornaments and glitter creations with our wonderful friends the Underwoods. Every time I see the trees, stars, moose heads and snowflakes catching the light, I think of them and smile. Good times!Everything Thanksgiving I try to find a Christmas ornaments to make after the big meal. We made these a few years ago and I only completed one. It turned out pretty, but my tree colors do not include blue, so I happily gave the rest of the beads to Kristi who whipped them up last year and hung them in her dining room.We made these two years on Thanksgiving. I loved these. I got home and made the rest of the bag. They are tiny and bring the right amount of sparkle to the tree.
And this is what the boys colored this Thanksgiving. Such happy memories.

Merry Christmas 2007 to all!!!