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Hi Mom.. Just checking in before checking out.. Wonderful letter and I can feel your enthusiasm for the holidays. Hopefully, you will keep it coming and spark all of us for every holiday that comes up..

Yes Mom that is one of my Christmas trees.. I keep it lit all year, and usually have candles in my windows until I have to keep them open for the summer. They tend to get in the way then.. Lots of homes in this area keep trees and window lights on all year. I guess it's a country thing..

I was reading about your felt ornaments for the tree. I have them too. I made many when the kids were little. Mine are all kinds of birds of different colors with jewels and sequins all over them.. I have babies in their nests, etc. The kids made some birds and regular shaped ornaments. I still have them and keep them in tissue and put them on the tree every year.. I remember my Mom sitting with me and watching me make them, and suggesting new birds and colors.. It was so much fun, and I still love them.. I let the kids glue theirs, but mine were all sewn..

I will have the thrill of getting a tree in Fl this year. It will be our first.. I guess I'll have to buy all new decorations tho.. All I had last year was a stuffed snowman my girlfriend gave me..but of course we came home and didn't need anything..

See you tomorrow.. ;)

That is really interesting about having a Christmas tree up year round...I like that idea, I like it a lot....and its really very interesting, that many folks in your area do the same thing....

I usually dont put my artificial trees up until after Thanksgiving, but I dont take them down until Feb 1st....I so love Christmas trees, just hate to take them down...usually near the end of Jan. BigDom is grumbling about them, and reminding me that Christmas is over, and they need to come down...he knows nagging me will not make me take them down any sooner, but its just his way, I guess..

The front room, always has a live Fraser fir, and that, or course cannot go up quite as early, and needs to come down the week after Christmas...we go to a local tree farm, ask for the area of Fraser firs, that is open that year, get our saw, and then scout out the biggest tree we think we can cram into the house...need one great big and fat and fluffy, and tall...we always get the Fraser firs, as they are really magnificent trees, and seem to really last and stay fresh for a long time...of course, the fact that we cut it fresh, keeps it fresher longer...when we return from the tree farm, BigDom takes the tree out back, to a huge plastic garbage can, filled with water, and in he plops the fresh Fraser fir....within a day, that tree has soaked almost all the water up, through its trunk, so we know when we bring it in the house, its full of water....

We get the Fraser fir, for its looks and its ability to stay fresh, and also because Fraser is my maiden name, tho my maiden name is spelled a little differently, its still pronounced the same....

I love Christmas...we have lots of trees, other decorations all over the house...and of course, since I am the dollie collector, lots of dolls in Christmas clothing are placed throughout the house...and then I have lots of the animated dolls going, a Victorian couple, and boy and girl in winter outdoor clothing, and a boy and girl wearing their Christmas red outfits...and a couple of Santas, sitting at a desk, checking the list, and surrounded by gifts.....

Once everything is up and running, and the trees are all decorated, and the lights are sparkling, I am one happy gal...

We dont have any outdoor lites....for some reason we have never gotten into that...but many of the homes in our neighborhood put on a ton of lights, so they more than make up for our lack of outdoor lighting....the homes with their various outdoor lighting displays are really fabulous...

BigDom and I like to drive around all the different neighborhoods and see all the outdoor lighting...there is a particular neighborhood up in Tacoma, near the post office where BigDom works, and they have an especially beautiful few blocks where just about every house is lighted up and it looks like they are all competing with each other, to see who can have the biggest and best displays...its all too much fun...

When Bigdom and I were dating, we used to go up to this area of Chicago called Sauganash...I am not sure if that is the correct spelling...

Anyway, this was an area of very rich and wealthy people...and they put on some of the most amazing outdoor and window and indoor displays I have ever seen...every Christmas when we were dating, and later when we were married and had the boys, we would set aside one special night, to go through Sauganash, and just ooohh and aaahh, at all those wonderful displays...

I have heard that nowdays, Sauganash is so popular, that you actually have to make a reservation time for driving through this neighborhood...I am also not sure if now you have to pay to see all this...

But years ago, it was free, and not as well known as today, so we got a wonderful free tour every single Christmas...

Ah, Christmas, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year....