Spirit of Christmas: Day 22

Christmas Trees

I absolutely love sitting at home on December evenings with the tree all lit and Christmas songs playing, snow falling outside the windows.  It's just the best scene ever.  The one thing lacking in my Christmas scene is the smell of a natural pine tree.  In all of my life, I do not have a memory of a real tree in our home.  I am sure that as a little, little girl we had one, but I do not remember that.  What I do remember is putting together the artificial tree with my sister Maggie and getting stuck in the corner.  I am not sure if this is a true thing, or if I just remember it this way, but from what I know, my sister Sarah is allergic to pine trees.  After visiting with friends who have real trees though, I feel blessed that we did not have a real one, because those needles are super sharp and annoyingly sticky.

I mentioned yesterday that this tradition has an emphasis on my sister Sarah, but it is not because of an alleged allergy, it is because every year, no matter where she celebrates Christmas, she has a tree.  Three Christmases ago when my family got together in Las Vegas, Sarah even brought a cute little tree with her from California to put at the rental house.  That way both houses where the family was staying had a tree.

So, just for fun, here are some pictures of trees from years past.

Christmas Tree 1982 (I wasn't even alive yet)

Tree 2006 in Michigan, the presents were color coded that year

Tree 2008 in Vegas at the rental house


Hamilton tree 2008 in San Diego (Theirs is artificial too.)

Tree 2009 in Utah, it looks nicer this year, but I am too lazy to take a new picture today

Want to read about another awesome tree tradition?  Check out Kurt and Helena's blog.  This makes me wish I had a real tree.  P.S.  Helena's posts are hilarious and both she and Kurt are from Michigan so they are good people.

Kids gifts will be our topic for tomorrow.