Christmas Tree Extravaganza Two-Thousand-and-Eleven

The line in the famed ode that say of the Christmas tree "thy leaves are so unchanging" unfortunately is not true concerning the lucky tree that is chosen for our living room. We heat our house by wood-burning stove, and since our tree is in the living room, the heat from the constant fires in the stove rapidly and I mean, rapidly dry out the tree. By Christmas, usually our tree is a brittle sagging sight to behold (although no less loved by us!). And so this year, instead of getting our tree the first weekend in December, we resisted all temptation and waited until the second weekend. (Note: we decided that fire hazard or no fire hazard, next year we going back to the first weekend!)

Saturday afternoon found us trundling on over to the nursery/seasonal Christmas tree lot owned by good friends of ours (you know who you are!). Lo and behold, shining forth from the leafy grove, we found...the Chosen Pine. In the record timing of 5 minutes, I might say.

(The tree behind is was not our Chosen Pine; it was merely a good place to stand.)

A Christmas tradition of taking a picture of three sisters poking their heads out from behind a Christmas tree. It originated with our oldest sister Kristine (now married), Katheryn, and I. Now that Kristine is married, Karis has taken her place.

Stuart's awkward smile. =)

Karis.

Drum roll!! The moment of no return as Mom tears off the buyer's tag from off the chosen tree!

Scott, mustache, and soul patch. =)

Poinsettia's may not be my favorite Christmas tradition, but I'll admit they do make brilliant settings for pictures.

You never know what you'll find in a pointsettia bed.

Lights, tree....and definitely time for ornamentation!

Dad began the Ornamentation Ceremony by putting on the first ornament - carefully chosen ornaments that depict the true meaning of Christmas.

And then we all descended on the tree...

One of our crazy traditions is that each year, one person puts on The Star (yes, that's in caps!). It goes from oldest to youngest, and so with a big family, it can be years before you get your turn to put up The Star. The Star itself is just a paper, glue, and glitter star that Mom made long ago as just a make-shift tree topper. And you know, that's usually how life-long traditions begin. =) It was Scott's turn this year to anoint the tree.

Our good-lookin' Dad and Mom. Yah, you should be jealous. =)

We love our tree!!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...