December 8, 2009

I have really really good memories of growing up. We did so many fun things this time of year. Our family has always had a tradition of cutting down our own Christmas tree. I have many memories of being little and our family would load into the car to go find the perfect tree for our living room. Me and my brothers would zig zag through the trees in the snow throwing snowballs at each other. After we would cut down our tree, we would take it home and decorate it will colored lights and home made ornaments and also special ones given to us. Each of us put the ornaments on that we made ourselves. I can remember always being jealous of Tommy's Rudolph ornament. It had a red nose on it and he would position it just right next to a red bulb so it would look like it was lit up. We would have Christmas music playing in the background and it was just so much fun.

When Mike and I got married, thankfully, this Christmas tradition was understood by each other, because each of us grew up doing similar things. There has never been a negotiation of getting a live Christmas tree.. some years we cut it down ourselves and other years we go pick one that had just been cut. Either way, a live tree comes home with us and we have a system down for helping each other string the lights on. Then we get out our box of homemade ornaments and also ones that were given to us and we each put our own on. At the very top, the last ornaments we put on are little snowmen with names on them: Joan for Mike's grandmother who passed away in April of 2006, Jean for Mike's aunt who passed away in June of 2002, and Jeff who is my brother and passed away September of 2006. I love this time of year. It's one of my favorites because of the whole season. I love the snow before Christmas (after Christmas is a different story!), I love the Christmas lights and the heat on in the car, the decorations and the baking, the music and the memories. It makes me appreciate my family and my friends, but makes me miss those who have left us to go on to Heaven.

I can't imagine what holidays are like in Heaven. I mean, Christmas represents Jesus's birthday. What kind of birthday party do you have in Heaven?! And I am sure they have live Christmas music with choirs unlike anything you've ever heard. I can't wait for my whole family to be there one day so we can celebrate together.

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