Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The story of a tree.....

I believe every tree tells a story and our tree is no exception. Throughout the years our tree has worn several different 'cloaks' but the one constant has been the tale of 'us' it shares. From the time I was little, my folks created the tradition of giving my sister & I an ornament every year on Christmas Eve. Occasionally we were allowed to open one package that night too & often our ornament was over shadowed in the excitement of the holidays. Often our ornaments were parts of series that my Mom felt were reflective of our tastes and personalities at the time or sometimes were mementos of family vacations. Many of them are quite old, some are family antiques passed down from loved ones and all of them both old & new are priceless to me!

As I gaze at my tree tonight, certainly it is far from perfect! If it could speak, it would probably sigh & tell me that too many ornaments are clustered on its fragile lower branches, that the tinsel is itchy and the tree skirt too snug! It shows the many marks of being decorated and adored from a 6 year old girl, who alight with joy, has her own unique sense of design and presentation! :)

In response to our tree, I would gently tell her (him?) that while I can sympathize with its many complaints, I would not trade the bliss of sharing this yearly tradition that reaches all the way back to my most cherished memories, with my child. As we unwrap ornaments tucked carefully away each year, I am walked gently down memory lane.....remembering the ornament bought on a family trip to Myrtle Beach....remembering the first time we proudly hung our Precious Moments, "Our First Christmas" and later, "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments on our tree. Seeing my fledgling attempts at cursive handwriting on the old ornament boxes, proudly claiming them as my own. Remembering well the year we only hung ornaments on the top 1/2 of the tree to safeguard tiny, curious hands. Wondering what our tree will look like next year with another, "Baby's First Christmas" ornament hung on its branches....... this one in blue!

Yes, I believe that every tree has a story to share.......


Our main tree...a bit blurry ( sorry!) but the only one with Lexi posing!
Lauren's collection of ornaments has grown! We started this new tree for her last year!

This was Lauren's initial tree for her bedroom. She outgrew it, so now it sits on our landing.

The feather tree that matches my Mom's. We stalked these for weeks waiting for a sale!

Lauren's miniature tree. My Mom has decorated these trees and started this tradition for each grandchild. There is one waiting for baby Tyler in his nursery too!!
*** P.S. Okay, Martha Stewart I am not! LOL But I had a few requests to see the "trees". They are not all full sized, but each one represents something special to our family. BTW, I didn't want to show Tyler's tree, cuz the nursery is still not quite done! ( gotta get going on that!!) But I counted the two "mini" trees as one! :) Yes, I took some liberties!! :)

12 comments:

loffer said...

Yay! When you mentioned before that you had five Christmas trees, I was trying to imagine what they might look like. Thank you for sharing them with us!

I love how your parents had these wonderful traditions for you growing up and that your mom continues to share them with you by making a tree for your children.

Lora O.


I am amazed at all you get done in a day - and with out caffeine!!!

Michele M said...

Lisa, I loved your post. I really hits home as we share some of the same traditions. We have 3 trees; one real, one artificial and the mini hallmark ornament tree. My mom also does the little trees for each grandchild. I remember growing up and my G-Aunt has a silver tree; we just loved it as kids and she gave me a mini silver tree that I had purple ornaments for. Ahh the memories...they are abundant. Thanks for sharing.

QingLu Mama said...

Oh, Lisa! I love this post. Your trees are all just beautiful, who needs Martha's approval...it's all the love and glitter and memories made into ornaments that make the tree special. And I guarantee your trees are feeling the love and know they are blessed trees. Lauren's trees are wonderful, what a great tradition to pass along! She looks very proud of her them too, and she should-they are as lovely as she is! And I adore Lexi, what an awesome little pooch, posing for you!
Thanks for passing the holiday cheer, you are always have a way of making days sparkle!
Jennifer

P.S. Can't wait to see Tyler with his tree next year!!!

Floyd said...

Lisa, you have a lovely home. If my tree could talk it would say "Hey, why do you shove me into the basement for 11 months?!"
Have a great holiday...

rachel said...

love the trees! and the ornaments are such a treasure. i remember opening them as a kid and pretending to appreciate them, but deep down they were the equivalent of receiving socks or something equally as boring. now i just cherish them!

so how did i miss that you decided on a name?! tyler? i love it. i don't recall reading that. however, i do have "mommy brain" which may explain why i missed it! :)

Lisa said...

Oh, you guys are all the best! I loved hearing bits about your traditions & trees...keep those coming, as I love hearing about 'em! :)
& I wish I could say that I don't have lazy days...I do! & I wish I could say I was still off the caffeine...I'm back on the Diet Coke monkey! It started up again when I started being awake for hours in the night! That's how I get my stuff done! LOL
& I did forget to announce our name for the boy on the blog...I have Mama brain too! :) We just decided over the weekend....Tyler Pei-En!
Hugs to you all! Thanks for making me smile!
Lisa

Journey to our baby said...

Wholy moly Trees!!! I love it.

Yes, we are good with having you put us on your list on your profile, sorry it took me so long to respond, I have been a bad blogger lately. Nerves are getting to me waiting!

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Tish said...

GORGEOUS!!!! And even more so since you have so many wonderful memories attached to trimming your trees!

thanks for the comment on my blog. what a wonderful night you had as the sub teacher...and i am sure that L was happy to have you there! God is so good...even when we obey grudgingly, He blesses like crazy!

Anne Marie said...

Just beautiful and brought tears to my eyes remembering Christmas as a little girl. We used to especially love finding and hanging the ornaments that had been my grandmother's when my mother was a little girl. And now we love to see the ones we made as kindergartners when we go to my mom's house. We bought some little items (little shoes, leather keychain in the shape of Taiwan) that we are going to make into ornaments for our tree this year to begin some new traditions.

Casey said...

What a beautiful post!

So fun to read. :-)

Casey

Deborah said...

This was my first visit to your blog. It was nice to "meet" your family. Wow--what a cool tree tradition.
Congratulations on your first ruling. Here's hoping you'll be in Taiwan in January with that sweet boy in your arms. Best wishes. And Merry Christmas!