Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

I just finished putting tinsel on our tree and it got me to thinking about all the different kinds of trees people have.  In our family we've always preferred the even, flat branches of a Silver Tip(Shasta or Noble Fir).  These beautiful trees only grow above a certain elevation, which is pretty high!  There's been several years that we got an early snowstorm and actually rode in to get our tree, dragging it back to the pickup behind a horse.

I remember the first time I got to go.  I was somewhere around 10 I think, but really that's just a guess. I was riding my sisters wicked little mare Shaniko, my dad was on his good gelding and my sister was riding a friends huge mare. Really my sister and I should have switched horses because even at 10 I was taller than her! When I say Shaniko was little I mean like pony size.  The snow got so deep she could barely wade her way through it, so I waited on the road while my sister and dad got a tree.  They wrapped it up in a tarp and my dad decided he'd pull it.  All was fine until they moved.  The sound of the tarp on the snow was too much for all of our horses.  The mare my sister was on handled it pretty well, but my dads horse took off running, trying to figure out why the sound was following him, haha.  Shaniko on the other hand, was the worst.  She loved to buck and just because she was belly deep in the snow didn't mean she wasn't gonna get rank.  Somehow I stayed on, got her straightened out and took off after my sister.  We weren't sure how far old Gus ran before settling down.

My mom is very particular about Christmas decorations and even more so with the tree.  My dad Always does the lights and the rest of us do the ornaments and mom does the tinsel.  Most of our ornaments are ones us kids made through the years, with a few gorgeous crystal crystals(which are my moms favorite), some pewter ones and ones marking our births.  The topper has forever been a light up angel.  When I was little there was an accident and the poor angel burned her cheek. This year my mom was gone and she entrusted me with all the decorating.  So I made sure to do everything very tactfully!  The tinsel literally gets put on one or two pieces at a time.  It kind of takes forever!  But I know my mom will love the tree.

What kind of trees do your families like?  Bushy, open, short, tall?  What kind of ornaments? Homemade or store bought?  Do you use tinsel, garland, popcorn or bows?  Do you do the whole color coordinated thing?  Or even just go for the fake store bought tree?  What are some Christmas family traditions you have???

          (This was my tree last year. The lights were really funky and I didn't have enough.  It was green and pink themed.)




Xoxo Loves,


Me