Decorating again with TREES!

If you were around last year you KNOW I love Christmas Trees!  It's an illness...I get it from my mom! ;)
There are a lot of decorations I put up each year that make me smile, but the trees- well, they make me giddy!

I am not one for decorating too early.  I like my seasons and fall really is my favorite so I try not to rush it, but this year we did put up the trees early.  I had to!  My college daughter was home for Thanksgiving and I wanted her to be a part of the fun and since she is not returning until the 19th, early it was!

Moving all the time has it's advantages (shhhhhh, do not tell my hubby I said that) but one is the excitement of deciding where the trees will go in a new house.  Yes, I am sure that was excitement. haha

First, the family tree.  For the first time ever it is not in the den, which has concerned the children greatly. WHERE will the presents go?  WHERE will we open gifts?  Still to be determined.

Then there is the Americana Tree.  Hey, we are a military family remember! :) There was talk about putting it downstairs in the basement, but I love sharing it with friends and not as many people go down there so I convinced my amazing man it would fit on the stair landing.  He is still not convinced but he is humoring me!  I put all the Nutcrackers under it, but they are usually all over the house by the end of the day thanks to a certain 6 year old!

Then there is our Cross Tree.  This use to be a little tree but my mom gave us her old tree since she spends Christmas with us anyway and now it is my favorite tree.  Thus, it got put in the den this year so I could see it most often.  There is still a lot of empty space on it, did you know it is easier to find an ornament of Santa than it is of crosses, just saying, but I love each one and it is a beautiful reminder of the One who gave His life for us and made this holiday even worth celebrating.

Then there is our little tree outside.  Yes, it is plain.  It is a work of art in the making...currently in my head. Rome was not built in a day right?  I imagine little birds all over it, maybe cardinals, and plaid bows for my girls, but well, again, Rome was not built in a day!  Yes, that is real snow!

And then... I told you I liked trees... is our advent tree.  Last year it was our angel tree but this year they moved to a new tree because a dear friend sent us a lovely devotional book that has the prettiest ornaments that go with it.  So each night when we gather to do devotions we read from this book as well and the boys add a new ornament.  I can't wait to see it with all of them on it!  Thank you LL!!!

Here is the Angel Tree!  Not the best picture, but you get the idea.  Has anyone else noticed how hard it is to get a good picture of a Christmas Tree?

And then there is the children's tree.  I actually bought the white one last year because the original tree finally fell apart.  Literally, branches falling off.   Because we had so many ornaments the older girls decided to put the Disney type ones that grandparents have given them and many of the homemade ones on a separate tree of their own.  This year our littlest coned them all into putting it in his room as his official nightlight.  I imagine this tree will get slimmer as the kids go off on their own someday and take their ornaments with them, but for now it is filled with fun memories.

I have a few more tree ideas up my sleeve, but every time I remotely look at a tree, my hubby drags me away from the store chatting no no no!  We'll see! ;)

And two more to end- these are my mother-in-law's, so I cannot take credit for them, but both have been done in honor of my sister-in-law, Lane, who died at age 21.  They make me smile and bring back many precious memories whenever I see them.

The first- A Beanie Baby Tree!  Beanie Bears were very popular the last few years of Lane's life.  That was when they were hard to find and people stood in line to get them!  I am not sure how it all got started, but Lane began to collect them and then it became a sort of contest to see who could get the latest or most hard to find.  Eventually even her nurses and people who worked in the hospital gift shop were in on the fun and I know that they blessed her immensely.  I do not think it was ever really about the bears, but about the love that was in one given!  My mother-in-law eventually added them all to this tree which gets stored in the attic as is and brought out each year.  My kids love looking at all of the bears- any guesses on how many there are?

The other thing that Lane loved was Garfield.  You know- that silly, orange cat?  She even named a stray that adopted her Garfield and eventually Garfields began to roll in as well.  So this little tree began because of that!  Cute huh?

So, while they may not seem very Christmas-y (my made up word, maybe?!) they are filled with love and memories!

May your Christmas be filled with love, memories and the promise of a King who was sent to save us all!

Blessings,