HOME IS WHERE THE TREE IS

The Christmas tree has always been at the center of our decorating for the season.  I've written about our trees during the last five Christmases on this blog.  You can read here about our tradition of red balls with the year painted on.  There are now 56 of those balls on our tree this year.

Collecting ornaments from friends and travels over the years plus inheriting family ornaments necessitated a few years ago to  now decorate two trees.  

Each of the hundreds of ornaments have a story to tell - these are definitely memory trees.

ONE MORE CHRISTMAS MEMORY  --  In 1966, Bob had just finished his first master's degree and was being transferred by the Federal Government to a research station in northeastern Montana.  He was to report for work the week before Christmas.  We hurriedly sold our house, and the government sent a moving company to load up our furniture and belongings for storage.  We combined Thanksgiving and an early Christmas with our families; loaded up our Suburban with our elderly, blind dog, a few warm clothes, an electric skillet, and a box containing our then nine red balls with the years on them.  I was going to have a tree, if not much else.  We headed out, sight unseen, to the wilds of Montana.

There was not a single rental house available, so we were put up in a motel for six weeks until a house became available.

The Park Plaza Motel, Sidney, Mt., Christmas 1966

Without family and the usual trappings of Christmas (except the tree), we experienced what the celebration was all about - the birth of our Savior.  We grew up a lot in those five years in Montana -- we learned to deal with isolation, how to function in months of zero degree weather with snow and ice, and discovered what was important to us in life.  We started a family of our own as our first child was born on a snowy day in March 1968 in that little town in Montana.  By the way, I also learned how to make a full meal in that little electric skillet in a motel room - in 1966, there were no microwaves, no fast food, no take-out!!!

This is my last post for December 2013.  Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read about the Christmas memories I've shared this month.  We understand the real reason to celebrate Christmas, and we try to focus on that. 

 But, it is also the season to share with those we love making memories and establishing traditions to last a life time.

Now, it is time for the Salmagundi household to worship and be together as a family.  

May you all have a joyous celebration - go make some memories!  I'll be back posting in 2014.

Please check out the following blogs for more Christmas Joy:
Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday
Pieced Pastimes for Saturday Sparks