Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree ...

you brought with you a lot of memories! Go ahead and laugh ... I'll wait.

This is the first EVER Christmas away from my Mom and Dad and Sister. Wow. Unimaginable to me. 29 (+ a few years, I'm 29 forever!) years of Christmas' together ...

I'm Desperately Seeking Holiday Spirit. And what better way to get in the 'spirit' than to get a Christmas tree and decorate it w/the kids?

So, we go over the Arkansas river and up through the mountain valley out of our little town of Florence ... into the next town over to find a tree.

And a tree we found at a grocery store LOL ...

I do have to admit, it is a beautiful tree and smells very nice. It's actually one of the best trees we've had (since we've been married) and only $29.95! On the roof it goes w/some tie downs and we are set!



Frank had to drag Koda over to the tree...all he wanted to do was hide behind me (yeh, I protect him instead of he protecting me) and bark at it.



Frank did a great job at trimming the tree at the bottom, in fact, some of you will recognize the saw he used. Memory #1 ... ... growing up our family went with another family to the Christmas Tree Farm to cut down our own tree. I can't tell you how many years, but it was over 20 years that we did this. Even when I was married and had kids we did this. In fact, Frank somehow came home one year w/the Christmas Tree Farm's saw.



We tried to make Koda into a wreath, but he didn't want to take part in it.



In comes the tree and up goes the lights. No problem finding the lights what-so-ever. They were in the Christmas tote. Huge problem finding the stockings, tree skirt, and the 2 shoe boxes of ornaments. While moving, the packers packed them up for us, in about 4 or 5 different boxes all labeled "attic / toys" ... ... After searching about a dozen different boxes, we found them, thankfully.





Of course, the cat, Hayden, had to check it all out. The same cat that knocked our tree down last year. I have to watch him closely!



On with the decorating ... My favorite part of decorating is looking through the ornaments. (enter memories 2 to whatever) All of them have a meaning or story to them. They might be handmade by the kids or bought by my family or friends. Some are 25+ years old.

Pulling some of these ornaments out made me smile ... all those family and extended family members that bought me ornaments (and decorations) helped me get through this tough day.

From my Aunt, this ornament is 18 years old:


From my extended family, the ones that we went w/to the Christmas Tree Farm:



From my sister, she brought this back from Hawaii:


and from my mom and dad, one of my favorite ornaments, a black Santa



Our tree is loaded with memories for me. I pulled out ornaments and decorations from my in-laws, my grandmother, my Aunts and Uncles...my parents and my sister and my extended family.











When all is said and done...this was a good day. I brought with me my family, in-laws, extended family, and friends. They are here with us, they just live on my tree.