December 24, 2012 pm.......

A friend who follows me from England asked me about how many trees do we display each year.  I thought I would give a review for her to catch her up to the craziness.  Della and I both like the color and the lights and the fun that we really didn't have when we were kids. Today one can start a theme and with little money collect ornaments toward each new year.

Our large tree sits in the bay window of the living room.  It is a tree of memories.  The ornaments are the ones we have received over the years, the ones the boys received or the ones that are now being sent to us.  I know one of them is as old as Andy when he was a baby and the newest ones are from Aaron and his wife Keegan from Maine.  Lighthouses and moose come from Maine. This is a collection of memories of friends who have passed on and collections of ornaments from Kansas City when we would visit in the summers.

My wife's angel tree started when we bought it as our first small tree for the art gallery.  We thought it good to have it up for the customers to see when they came in to buy artwork or the pick up framing.  The collection of ornaments has grown larger through the years. You can see the only clear photo of the living room big tree that I have not been able to take. That tree in the living room has so much back lighting from the bay window that the camera doesn't give me a clear shot of it.

My small tree is covered with the glass blown ornaments. It has a mirror behind it this year.  There was no room for any trains this year as it sits on a chest of drawers. The ornaments are not the expensive ones but those that I have collected on after Christmas sales.  Since I have started the collection plastic fake ones are now being produced.  I found this year that there were very few companies making the small old fashioned ornaments and they aren't for sale.  That is good as I have too many of them anyway.

Because of me having too many of the glass blown ones, I now have an overflow tree.  I pick out the smallest ones from the large collection and I decorate this smaller tree. Some of my older ones are on tis tree that I bought thirty years ago.

My wife's teddy bear tree started up probably 15 years ago.  It was her idea and I keep buying her a new one each year.  There are more than just bears on this tree as there are raccoons and dogs on the tree also.  I noticed this year that tyco wanted to make all of their small stuffed animals with oversized eyes, like they are cartoon figures.  It is a sad choice to design them this way.

The decorated tree is a tradition from Europe and not our religion. Our belief in Christ, really is not deterred from all the trees. Our manger is really our prized decoration for the season. I made the barn manger myself a few years ago and we selected these mat finished glaze figures many years ago.  We buy animals to go with the scene.  Our Bible tells us that the wise men came to see the baby Jesus later and that there should be shepherds there at the manger.  One doesn't always see the shepherds or you can buy them with both.  We are watching for shepherds to add to our scene for the future.

As we leave for Christmas eve service I hope that you all have a happy holiday season and Merry Christmas to those who wish to celebrate the season.

Thanks for stopping by my post this evening.