Brian and I will be married 20 years in January. And in all that time we have never had a Christmas tree. It always seemed silly because we traveled each year to our relatives homes in other states. One year when we were first married and very poor, we pulled a tumbleweed off the side of the highway and tried to decorate that, but it dried out and fell apart and smelled terrible.
But this year, of course, is very special. This year is Grace's first Christmas at home. We did celebrate Christmas with her last year in China, but this year is a real Christmas. With a tree and lots of friends of family around. And maybe even some snow.
So we had to start with a tree. We had much discussion over real versus artificial, green versus flocked, how to decorate it, etc, etc. We finally settled on a white flocked artificial with "Dr. Suess" colored bulbs. I love our new tree. And so does Grace. She likes to take the ornaments on and off. She likes to hold onto the little light bulbs until they get too hot (she is quite the scientist). She likes to lay under the tree and kick the ornaments with her toes. She may not understand all that Christmas means to us, but she is definitely feeling the Christmas spirit.
