The Christmas Branch

I love the holiday season. We have beaucoup traditions in our family. None of them big or fancy, but, still, customs that have meaning to us. The tree is mostly my baby. I do all the trimming. The Soul Mate puts it in its stand and strings the lights for me, then he's done. I enjoy decorating it while he'd rather stick needles in his eyes, so that works for us. :)

When my Sweet Baby Boy was little, however, he and I used to trim it together. Don't tell him, but some years I'd wait until he went to bed, then rearrange the ornaments. But probably my favorite tree of all time? That would be the year of the Christopher Branch.

He must have been three or four that year. He was racing back and forth between the tree and the box where I was getting out the ornaments. I was busy dusting them off, since I'd been too lazy to clean em up the previous year before I put them away, so I wasn't paying attention. Until I turned around. . .and found all of the ornaments hanging from one low branch.

That was a tree I left alone for the sheer fun value. And I'm sorry that I don't have a picture to show you. I know I have one somewhere, but I have about 25 photo albums and I didn't start putting my loose photos into them until Chris was around eight or nine, so before then they aren't in chronological order--and I simply ran out of time this evening. (Who knew it was Thursday night already--when did that happen?) But here's a couple of pics from around that era.

What are some of your traditions or fun memories of things that your kids or other family members have done?

And since this is my last blog until after the holidays, I wish you and yours a wonderful Christmas/Hanukkah, Kwanzaa. And a healthy, happy New Year!!


~Susan