Yellow Snowball Accepted!!

Ok, Denyse, here goes!!

Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year.  Yes, I would be one of those individuals who would keep her Christmas trees up all year long if I could.  You read right:  Christmas TREES!!  In the past, when I was younger and Elizabeth lived at home, we would put up as many as five or six trees for the holiday season.  I remember the year, not too many years ago, that I went to see the doctor shortly after the Christmas season.  I was complaining about my shoulders really hurting and not understanding the reason.  He asked how many trees we had put up and when I told him we had put up five that year, he laughed and said that was the reason.  I had "Christmas tree shoulders"!!  That ailment still does not deter us when it comes time to put up the trees.

We have two 9-1/2 foot trees - one "froo-froo" and the other the "family tree".  Thank goodness they are both pre-lit or we might not make it.  We also have a smaller 7-ft. tree that we put in the kitchen/breakfast room area, plus several smaller ones placed randomly throughout the rest of the house.  The "froo-froo" tree is in the living room and is decorated with burgundy, white and gold.  Lee says this is not the "real" tree because it really doesn't mean anything to him--just another tree.  His favorite is the "family" tree.  I have ALL of the lovingly handmade ornaments Elizabeth and Lee ever made - from pre-school until they no longer made them in school.  Reindeer made of felt, pine cones, footprints, handprints, sweet gum balls, clothes pins, etc. are lovingly placed all over the tree.  Santas of every shape and description, angels big and small, ornaments from all our vacations (and now, this year, I have a Statue of Liberty one!!) and Nativity scenes dot various spots on the tree.  My favorite of all time, however, is the ornament that Lee made the year he was in Mrs. Newcomb's pre-school class at St. Paul's School.  That year was the year Haley's Comet made an appearance and that appearance caused so much uproar.  Karen Newcomb is an extremely talented teacher.  She had the class make "Haley's Comet" ornaments from very small flower pots covered in silver cupcake papers.  The "comet" has a streaming trail made of silver threads of paper with stars glued on the ends.  Needless to say, this ornament has a very prominent place on our tree.  Many comments have been made about this ornament over the years.  A story can be told about each of the ornaments on this tree....and that story is told EVERY year as we place it on the tree!!  So much fun!!  So many wonderful, precious memories!!

Lights and decorations outside are another story--like the year Gary had Elizabeth placing the lights on the roof.  He, like Joel, had placed the ladder in the bed of his pickup and had Elizabeth go up the ladder and put lights on the house.  He asked her about halfway through if she was ok and she replied,  "I think I ___ in my pants!"  Now, we just put reindeer and trees in the yard, with just a few lights around the sidewalks.  Maybe I will call Denyse and get the name of the person who puts lights on her roof!!  I really like that best!!

Since Elizabeth and I now spend Thanksgiving evening in the Dallas area so we can get up early the next day and do marathon shopping, we begin decorating a few weeks before Thanksgiving.  I really like this....it gives me a longer time to enjoy the beauty of Christmas.  I have often wondered why we don't leave the trees and lights and decorations up all year.  We celebrate, or Christians do,  Jesus Christ all year; so, why not?!?  Have we become too commercial as everyone says?  When did we change "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays"?  Are we Christians remiss in not demanding "Merry Christmas"?  As for me, I will let the lights and trees and decorations remain in my heart all year long.  I love the REAL REASON we celebrate the season!