The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. Burton Hillis
The custom of the Christmas tree developed in early modern Germany with predecessors that can be traced to the 16th and possibly the 15th century. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands to symbolize eternal life was a custom of the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. Tree worship was common among the pagan Europeans and survived their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmastime.
Interesting information heh? I never knew that myself so I thought I would Google it and see what I found out so there you go.
I do know that last night the kids and I decorated ours and it has become such a fun tradition in our home and something the kids really look forward to each year, especially Zachary.
Because of the farm hours I now have I will admit that I wasn't overly thrilled about having to come home from chores at 7 pm, take a shower, eat and then about 8 pm just begin to decorate the tree but the kids insisted earlier in the week that we do it Thursday night when Dad was at his weekly dart night so we could make as much noise as we wanted, goof around more than usual, play our Christmas music as loud as we chose and not interupt him watching Pawn Stars or some other show. So I gave into their wishes, made myself an Old Fashion and let the fun begin.
The kids were in good spirits and Zach couldn't stop talking about how he literally "gets the shakes" just thinking about Christmas morning and opening all of the gifts he gets each year.
Samantha of course is getting "too cool" and everything to enjoy it quite as much as she has in the past, but despite her coolness she did help out quite a bit and seemed to have a good time.
Lucy our dog was pretty uninterested in the entire ordeal but managed to open her eyes for this photo at least.
But I will admit, to me there is nothing quite as sweet and innocent as watching a little 4 year old place ornaments on the tree. Luke was focused and so involved in getting the ornaments out and hanging them himself and it was so cute to watch.
It's funny, every year when Christmas is approaching I start to grumble a bit, mainly because it really has become such an expensive time of year for us and then it is over so stinking fast. You put forth so much effort with all the decorations, the shopping, the baking of cookies and the list goes on and on, and then it's done and you just dread the task of putting everything away.
Last night was fun though. Before the kids were born I used to make sure our tree had every ornament strategically placed and that all ornaments were in sync with each other so I had a perfect tree, but over the years I've gone away from that. Reason being we have accumulated a lot of personal ornaments with meaning that have replaced the plain old round ornaments I used to have. I buy all three kids a new ornament each year and they know exactly which ones are theirs and I already told them that when they move out they can take their ornaments with them.
I also have the homemade ornaments from the kids from over the years, and although they may not be the "prettiest" ornaments in somebody elses eyes, I wouldn't get rid of them if you paid me.
Memories were a big part of the fun last night. Reflecting on every individual ornament, who it came from, what meaning it had and so on.
Zach's little sled ornament from kindergarten.
A string of homemade garland Sam made when she was younger.
Some ornaments that were given to us a few years ago from my Grandma Dorothy, who passed away about 1 1/2 years ago. They are on the tree in her memory.
One with our little baby Luke's picture in it. He's getting way too big too fast!!!
Obviously I'm not going to bore you with pictures of every single ornament but I think you get the idea. Our tree has so much meaning to us. Ask us about any ornament on the tree and for the most part it will have a story behind it and I LOVE THAT!!!
This next one by far is the biggest conversation piece and we laugh like crazy every year when Zach brings it out and reveals it again and we almost always hang it front and center on the tree "just because". Awww, look at my little angel :)
So, our tree is finished, except for the presents under the tree. Those won't be there until likely December 22nd or thereabouts because we are famous for waiting until the last minute to do our Christmas shopping. Why break tradition now?
The tree may not look perfect to some people but for me I wouldn't have it any other way.
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