A really trim tree

Every year at my parent's house, we have a tree trimming party. It has been a tradition for ever since I can remember. It's a time when all of the family comes together to decorate the tree, eat, sing, and be merry (mostly eat!). This year was no different.

I have so many fond memories of Christmas that I could never write them all down. I've blogged about many of them and I'm sure I'll blog about many more in the future. Last night my entire immediate family was able to attend the tree trimming party. You never know each year who will be sick or if Jenny and Jon will be able to make the long haul from Hot Springs, Arkansas. Everyone was well and yep, Jenny and her family were there.

We always jokingly talk about cutting back on the amount of food/snacks that we will prepare for the party, but we never go through with it. Last night we had enough to feed the entire neighborhood. I ate WAY too much! It is so hard to resist the temptation of sausage bread, cheese ball, chicken rings, baked potato soup, fudge, and punch. However; I had no problem resisting the big tossed salad that mom had prepared. ;)

In the past 6-years since Pam passed away, we haven't done much singing. She was always in the center of our music and it just isn't the same without her. This year my mother decided to have a "talent contest." We had a blast listening to the kids sing, play instruments, and act out. I brought our electric keyboard and we all enjoyed singing Christmas songs while Jenny played. It was more like old times, only without Pam. She sure would have had a great time last night, but I know she is having a much better time singing in the Heavenly choir! As usual, we proudly displayed her burlap cross-stitching in front of the Christmas tree.

The kids did a good job decorating the tree. All of us "grownups" just sit around and watch them decorate it. There were a few glass ornaments broken this year, most likely because of the new hardwood floors that we put in my parent's house this year. There were actually several loud crashes throughout the night and my nephew Isaac was even pulled out of the clothes dryer! He figured it was the best place to hide out while the kids were playing hide-n-seek. He was right... Mom and Dad bought a pre-lit artificial tree a couple of years ago. It is a little on the slim side. After it's decorated it doesn't look too bad but it sure isn't anything like the big fat cedar trees that dad used to chop down every year. That was always fun too, going with dad to find the tree. We usually trespassed on private property to find the perfect tree. Dad would quickly chop it down with an axe and then we would drag it back to the car, dodging cow manure and hefting it over barbed wire fences. The fun part was getting the tree to stand up in the living room, but, that's a whole different post!

I really hated for it all to end. Jenny and her family are traveling to Jon's parent's house in Winston-Salem, NC today and we won't get to see them much until their next trip back to Knoxville. I'm not sure when that will be.