In the Tenney household, when the Christmas tree is fully decorated, the season begins in ernest. I like to put it up early as a reminder of all things Christmas. Not only does it get me "in the mood," but it's a reminder of things I want to get accomplished (like decorating, baking, shopping and wrapping). And it is also a reminder of the reason for the season itself.
The tree is tall, over 9 feet, and is an artificial tree due to allergies. Although I love real trees, it's nice to be able to put the tree up early and leave it up past Christmas without worrying about watering or messy needles.
I take my time trimming the tree now that the kids have grown. The first night consists of just setting up the tree. It takes a couple of hours as it's in many pieces and requires a ladder for reaching the top. There are usually old Christmas movies playing on TV as I am trimming the tree.
I put the lights on the tree the second night. This tree is almost 20 years old and so isn't one of the pre-lit trees. Instead, I use 1500 LED multi-color lights and weave them in and out of the branches.
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| From our 1984 trip to China |
The third (and sometimes fourth) night is for adding the ornaments and other decorations. This can take a long time as there are 400+ ornaments and many of the decorations spark conversations. My husband isn't excited about helping to trim the tree but he does like to talk about the wonderful memories that the decorations evoke.
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| Our trip to Switzerland |
Several of the ornaments are from trips that my husband and I have been very fortunate to be able to take part in. The trips were awards for sales and with a young family, we weren't always able to spend a lot on souvenirs. But Christmas ornaments and decorations were within our budget and decades later are wonderful reminders of some amazing travels.
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| 1977 |
There are many, many pictures that decorate the tree. Some photos are part of an ornament but most are just photos in light-weight frames that I just prop up on the tree branches. Several are photos with Santa Claus from decades ago. The photo at left is one such example and is one of my favorites. From 1977, it is my daughter's first visit to Santa. She was a little squirmy at first, but then settled down and even smiled for the photo. Imagine my surprise, when I picked her up to set her in her stroller and found she had utterly exploded in her diaper and had made a terrible mess of her clothes. I can only imagine what she did to Santa's suit! No wonder Santa doesn't look as happy as Sarah does. She is probably forever on his naughty list. (Sorry, Sarah, I had to tell the story.)
Some of my favorite ornaments are no longer hang in on our tree. When the children were little, we would go to the mall and pick out ornaments each year and have them engraved with their name and the year. Each child was given their ornaments to hang on their own family tree.
Many of the ornaments are homemade. One year, in the late 1970's, I made 24 cross-stitched ornaments as a gift for my mother- and father-in-law. They were simple patterns of Christian symbols and the meaning of each was written on the back. My in-laws have both passed on and now those ornaments hang on our tree. It is a wonderful reminder of those family members who are no longer with us.
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| Cross-stiched log carrier with cinnamon stick logs |
When we moved to our new house in 1980, I wanted our tree to be fully decorated with new ornaments. But, again, our young family and finances prevented me from purchasing fancy ornaments. So I spent the summer and fall creating several dozen ornaments of many styles. Only a few survive, as many were given away over the years. But those that do survive are treasured.
When I think about it, I am sure that I could put up the tree, string all the lights, and hang all the decorations in one day. But stretching it out over a few days gives me extra time to reminisce and hold those memories close, if only for a few moments.
These are just a few samples of the ornaments from my tree. There are hundreds more and many have wonderful memories attached. Each year, a few ornaments are added. Some, sadly, are broken and have to be put away. But the memories of Christmases past and the family members who are no longer with us, shine brightly each year every time I look at the tree.
"The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.”
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