Each
Year, Geneabloggers hosts an Advent
Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) Today's topic is Christmas Trees.
When I was a little girl, Christmas celebrations at our home were fairly simple. I was the only child in our family, yet Christmas was lots of fun because my best friend lived right around the block.
We’d display a tree in our living room. My mom liked flocked trees, so some evening after Thanksgiving, we’d often we’d go to the local Christmas Tree Lot and pick out and purchase a fresh, green tree as a family. I was really thrilled to dart in and out of the isles of trees, and loved the smell of the sawdust that covered the ground. My dad would often buy lots of flocking spray, and flock our tree in the backyard so it would look like snow. What a hassle! I’m glad that they just bought a flocked tree when I was older. I loved the evergreen smell, and it didn’t seem like Christmas as much at first when they got an artificial green tree when I was in my twenties.
In those early years, most people would hang silver tinsel all over their trees. I didn’t miss it much when we stopped doing that. My mother loved to go shopping in the malls. She loved the elegant trees she saw in the store windows and inside the stores. She retired the old ornaments and bought all turquoise blue, and turquoise blue on a flocked tree was absolutely beautiful.
When I was away at college, and my parents were going to bring out the artificial tree, I was very surprised and also grateful that my boyfriend bought a fresh tree for us to enjoy when I came home to Long Beach, CA on break from school.
When I was first married, the budget was extremely tight. We managed to buy a fresh tree, but the ornaments were all handmade.
After having children, we had all sorts of trees, usually fresh and green with many different types of decorations each year.
When I lived in Mesa and the children were older, we bought an artificial tree and decorated with red and gold balls, ribbons, garland and had a star on the top—representing the star of Bethlehem.
Reflecting on our Christmas Tree Tradition has been quite a walk down memory lane. In 2013, I downsized, and now enjoy the trees in the homes of my children at Christmastime. I take delight in the eyes of my grandchildren as they have now begun making memories of their own.
*****
Many thanks to Thomas MacEntee for hosting these Christmas memory prompts. The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com. Maybe you’d like to share your family history, too.
Here's 3 simple tools I use to create my permanent personal history:
1) I post a memory to my blog.
I copy the contents I posted there, then open my Personal
Historian Software and paste my
words there for my permanent Personal History records.
2)
I also enjoy using my Heritage
Collector Suite for organizing
my old-time photos as well as current photos for quick retrieval and
creating gifts.
3) And I love, love, love using my Flip-pal mobile scanner
for scanning my old photos to a memory card and getting them on to the computer
and into Heritage
Collector Suite. My
grandchildren love using the Flip-pal, too. They couldn't wait for Grandma to pay them to
use the Flip-pal to help her "catch up" with the 20 years of old
photos that had been stored in a box. And I was happy to have my memories
consolidated more quickly than if I waited to do it myself or spent hours
standing at a traditional scanner. (The Flip-pal can be held on your lap.)
Preserving my personal and family
history has never been easier! Have fun preserving yours.
Your comments are welcomed under the reference to this post at www.facebook.com/familytreegal.
Your comments are welcomed under the reference to this post at www.facebook.com/familytreegal.
**********************
Note: Carolyn Calton, author of JOURNALriffic, will be offering FREE Ten Minute Treasure Telecalls in 2016. Each week, using the principles outlined in JOURNALriffic, we will talk about a natural law/principle that will help you revitalize your inner worth and strengthen your meaningful relationships. Join us for these encouraging calls by signing up for Early Bird Updates. If you can’t make it at the time of the call, the link will be emailed to you and the recording will be available for a limited time. Click here for more information.
Note: Carolyn Calton, author of JOURNALriffic, will be offering FREE Ten Minute Treasure Telecalls in 2016. Each week, using the principles outlined in JOURNALriffic, we will talk about a natural law/principle that will help you revitalize your inner worth and strengthen your meaningful relationships. Join us for these encouraging calls by signing up for Early Bird Updates. If you can’t make it at the time of the call, the link will be emailed to you and the recording will be available for a limited time. Click here for more information.
Connect with Carolyn at:
www.FamilyTreeQuest.com (Connecting generations through Family History)
www.CarolynCalton.com (Spiritual messages of hope and INspiration)
www.LiahonaLightAcademy.com (INner worth and Relationship improvement,
Carolyn is CEO of Dr. Ron Newsom’s Liahona Light Institute)
www.twitter.com/familytreegal
www.facebook.com/familytreegal
www.linkedin.com/in/carolyncalton
*****
Disclosure of Material Connection: in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising,” I am disclosing that I am an affiliate of Life Story Productions (Heritage Collector Suite) and Flip-pal mobile scanner. The small commission I make on affiliate sales helps me continue my work, both online and offline. Thank you for using these links when making purchases. Lori Wiser is an affiliate of Amazon (Personal Historian Software and JOURNALriffic).
