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Christmas 2023

Christmas 2023

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A few weeks after last Christmas, Kim and I got a letter from Mrs. Taylor.  Mrs. Taylor was Donny’s fifth grade teacher who is now retired and has moved away from Herndon.  Donny loved Mrs. Taylor, and every year since Donny’s accident we have sent her our Christmas card and letter.  In her letter she told us how much she appreciated that we still send her our card and Christmas letter, and how much she looked forward to it.  That gave me great joy and for many months that letter hung on the kitchen cabinet.  Then came the day Mrs. Taylor’s letter needed to be taken down and put in that special place where we would always have it.

And you know how that goes.

Shortly after Thanksgiving when I was looking for some motivation for this year’s Christmas letter, we went to find Mrs. Taylor’s letter in that special place, and let me tell you, that place is still very special.

Mrs. Taylor, I want you to know that I appreciated your letter very much, and I also want you to know that I will keep that letter safe as long as I live and I am sure that when I do discover it the next time, I will appreciate it even more.

 

It was December 14th, and as I was walking through the area in the church near the office where we display posters and announcements of what is going on in the life of the church, I noticed that we had an Advent Calendar on the wall “With daily prompts for practicing joy in a weary world.” I could use a little of that I thought, so I read the message for that day, and it said “Write a letter to a loved one who has passed on.  Tell them what you love and miss about them.”

Yeesh, I thought.  Six months ago, on June 14th my dad was preparing to meet Jesus in few hours, I suppose I could write my dad a letter, but I don’t think he would read it.  And besides, that would probably just make me sad, and I am already sad.

When I got home, I went through the Christmas cards we had received in the mail.  One was from my cousin Judy.  Judy is now the matriarch of my father’s side of the family. She included a nice note written in the card that closed with “I wish you a wonderful Christmas with your family and look forward to your letter at my new address.”

Oh yeah, there’s that letter again. The Christmas Letter.

Suddenly writing my dad a letter started to sound like an easier option.

 

Now it’s December 15th, a Friday, and the end of a long week, while I waited for Kim to come home, I sat on the deck enjoying all the blow-up decorations and lights in my backyard that I had put up this year since the kids were all going to be here for Christmas.  While I enjoyed the view, I listened to Glen Campbell’s That Christmas Feeling album on iTunes and my new waterproof Bluetooth speaker. That Christmas Feeling is one of my favorite albums, certainly my favorite Christmas album, one that my dad had from the late 60’s.

I was having a moment.

On the church Facebook page, I read the message of the day from that same Advent Calendar was “Write, text, or call someone who brings you joy. Tell them, ‘I appreciate you.’”

Coincidentally, I had spoken on the phone with all three of my daughters that day and that doesn’t happen very often and they always bring me joy. I am sure I told all three that I loved them, but I didn’t say “I appreciate you,” hopefully they know that.

But okay, with three writing prompts in two days, I decided to move into the house to try to write.

When Kim came home, she looked at me and said “It’s December 15th” … and waited for me to finish the sentence.

“Six months since my dad died?” I replied weakly as she continued to wait patiently.

“…the day we got engaged,” she finished her sentence.

Oops, I had forgotten it was twenty-five years ago on December 15th that we got engaged just before Christmas in 1998 while spending the evening at the Red Fox Inn in Middleburg, Virginia.  That was certainly a joyous day. And for many years after that we would return to The Red Fox Inn on December 15th.  That tradition, like some others unfortunately, got lost as our lives got more complicated.

But I suppose I should have remembered.

 

The daily prompt for December 18th for practicing Joy in a weary world was “Read about and reflect on the word, “Attunement.” What does it look like for you to practice attunement this season?”

Attunement, I had to look that one up.

“Attunement is the reactiveness we have to another person. It is the process by which we form relationships.”  “A person who is well attuned will respond with appropriate language and behaviors based on another person’s emotional state.”

I thought about December 15 and how much I had already failed attuning this season, but I could try to do better.

 

Now it’s December 24th and Christmas Eve.  The daily prompt for this day is “Reflect on 3 things you are deeply grateful for. Offer a prayer of gratitude to God.”

I can do better than that, I thought.  There are at least ten “things” in my Christmas photo on my Christmas card that I am deeply grateful for.  I will reflect on them later.

 

I suppose you could say, particularly this Christmas season, our world may be a bit weary and the effort to find joy for some may be tough.

And sometimes writing, writing letters, calling those you love, reflecting, and prayers of gratitude help more than you know.

Kim and I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  We do appreciate you,  and we hope you find Joy in this Christmas season and in the coming New Year.

And I guess since the theme of this letter seems to be about letters and appreciation, maybe I will go back to that December 14th encouragement and write that letter to a loved one who has passed before me, but not to my Pop, to someone else who has passed on:

Dear Jesus,

Thanks.

Please take care of all those who surround us this season as well as those we can’t spend Christmas with this year.

And tell my Pop “Merry Christmas.”  By the way he likes ice cream, Manhattans, and Fiskoboller (cod fish balls) if you are celebrating.

Oh, and happy birthday.

And we do appreciate you too.

 

Merry Christmas, pray for peace.

Kim and Curt

 

Postscript:

In keeping with Alexa’s request last year that I write more about the family, allow me to reflect on them a little.  It’s been a year of lots of change for all of us.

Of course, you know my dad passed away on June 15th.  My mom is doing well but as you would expect she misses him as we all do.

Alexa got a promotion at GEICO which required the family to relocate.  So, they packed up and moved from south Florida to central Florida and a town named Oviedo which is near Orlando and Walt Disney World, their Happy Place.  The house is nice and is keeping Namaan busy; the neighbors are nice, the schools are good, and Christian and Ethan are happy playing baseball and going to Disney. They are currently in the third and first grades. Kim and I went down there for a few days in October.

Savannah and Leon both got new jobs.  Leon transitioned from teaching private school to working for Loudoun County Public Schools as a physical education teacher on the Elementary level.  Savannah transitioned into a Sales role at Poet’s Walk, a memory care facility and is following in Kim’s footsteps in healthcare sales and marketing.

Cameron has grown about a foot since last Christmas and is playing basketball and doing well in his eighth-grade year. He is a teenager now but still likes to hang with his Mimi and Pop Pop.

Over the summer we were lucky to have all three of the kids together for a little vacation and spent some time on the eastern shore fishing and crabbing and kayaking with great grandma Flo.

Hayley and Malcolm got engaged finally.  Malcolm also got a new job with T. Rowe Price and Hayley is in her 16th year teaching social sciences at Broad Run High School.  Sadley Malcolm also lost his dad this year right after Thanksgiving.

Kim and I are busy traveling the world, dining out a lot, basically living the dream. Well, none of that is true but we are still working towards being busy traveling, dining out a lot, and we do a lot of dreaming.   Kim is in her 30th year at Lincare, and I am still working at the church.  We continue to try to spend as much time as we can with our moms.  We had an early Christmas with my mom on a recent weekend and Kim went up and attended the Laurel View Village Christmas bash with her mom on the 12th.  So all is good and I suppose if hanging around with your best friend is part of that dream then we are in fact living it.

Merry Christmas,

Kim, Curt, Savannah, Leon, Cameron, Hayley, Malcolm, Alexa, Namaan, Christian, and Ethan

 

Therefore, as we face this season,

we ask that you would continue to walk with us. 

Stay by our side as we climb our way out. 

Just stay close.

For we cannot move from the weariness to joy without you.

Amen

(Rev. Sarah Speed)

 

2017 Christmas Letter

2017 Christmas Letter

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 Christmas 2017

I went to see Santa today.

It had been a long time since I had gone to see Santa.

For many years after Donny’s accident I would go visit Santa, have my photo taken, and frame the photo or photos with a letter to my wife that was meant to cheer her up.

It would always be the first gift of Christmas.

As the years went by and things got more hectic and wall space began to run low, I stopped.

Eventually after some downsizing and renovations those framed items were taken down from the walls and stored somewhere in the chance that someday one or all of my kids would remember and want one or two.

Not only did I have my picture taken with Santa, most of those photos were taken with the same Santa, who I got to know over the years and he even looked forward to seeing me come back each year.

I don’t remember if I have shared this story before and I apologize if I am repeating myself.   I have learned that repeating yourself is just a part of growing older, which I am.

But Christmas is about memories, those that we pull out of boxes each year or put in picture frames; and those that we work so hard to plan for so we can create new ones that we hope will be engraved in the memories of our kids and now our grand kids.

That is what visiting Santa did for me each year, he created a memory for me, for my wife, and after a few years for him too.

But Kim and I had already begun to create some memories for this holiday season.

It started by spending Thanksgiving with Ethan and Christian in Florida.  Oh yeah and Alexa and Namaan were there too.

Then upon returning home, my wife went on a tear and decided that in order to make better memories for the kids who were all going to be here for Christmas this year, we needed to create fun space by downsizing even more and renovating the basement.  That meant I had to take apart my office one piece at a time and put it in bins and boxes to be moved elsewhere while the new floor was installed and the painting done.

And just like opening boxes of Christmas memories each year, this task made me touch a lot of things I hadn’t picked up in a long time like:

My photo of Donny grinning and holding up his ticket at our Monmouth Park wedding reception;  my sterling silver guitar pick with “Pop Pop” engraved on it; the card and letter from my wife  for our tenth anniversary with our tickets to the Kentucky Derby.

Haskell hats, and Derby hats, and glasses, and more photos; guitars and vintage harmonicas; “The Little Chickens” Blizzard Blend wine bottled during a snowstorm when we were all stuck together in the house.  All of it brought me back to some place and time…and then it got put in a box.

And though the whole thing really stressed me out, at the time my wife said to me “when this is all done, you will say ‘Thank You Honey.’”

Next up,   was a trip with Cameron to see Santa on a Polar Express like train ride (the Northern Express) from Cumberland to Frostburg, Maryland and back that was an awesome day and a forever memory.

The next day I put up the really nice artificial Christmas tree with the lights already built in that I picked up really cheap at the yard sale.  And in typical Christiansen curse fashion only the middle section lights worked…well, so I save some money on the electric I guess.

And then today I get the idea that it might be nice to go visit my Santa friend again.

So I went, but sadly my Santa friend was not there anymore and hadn’t been there for a couple of years according to the girl I spoke with at the desk.  The last time I had stopped to check on him I was told he had taken that year off because his wife was very sick.  I am hoping he and Mrs. Claus are well and reclining on a beach on the west coast of Florida right now.

My new Santa was okay of course but since there were so many other kids waiting impatiently in line to see Santa (oh…and they had reservations!)  I didn’t have too much time in the chair so I didn’t get to tell him what I wanted for Christmas.

But If I could have I would have told him I wanted this Christmas to be more special than any other before.

That I wanted to spend quality time with my grandchildren;

That I wanted to enjoy the company of my kids and family and friends;

That I wanted my wife to have the happiest Christmas ever;

And that most of all I wanted some young kid to show me how to use the new Xbox One in the new basement.

Time goes on and age changes us all; Santa Clauses retire, and technology leaves me standing in front of a massive TV flailing my arms to no result.  And even as I write this, I am dribbling oatmeal on my sweater.

Though once again it has been a year of change for my family, God has been good.

 

And to my wife I must say I am not going to write you a letter this year and put it in a frame with my new Santa photo, have it be the first gift of Christmas, then hang it on the wall.

But I am going to say, “Thank you Honey.”

For all those Christmases and all those memories.

Let’s hope that time allows us to enjoy many more.

And to all of you out there I hope your Christmas season has been as good as mine.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from my family to yours.

Kim and Curt

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  James 1:17

This year’s Santa Pic
This year’s Santa Pic too.
With Santa on the “Polar Express” Train
Here are a few of my friend Santa. He was always a good sport.

The Christmas Letter

The Christmas Letter

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Kim and I have sent out a Christmas letter for as long as we have been together.  I have never shared it on the web so this is a first.  If you happen to be one of those folks who got one of these in the mail, make sure you drop to the bottom and read the follow up to the letter.

 

Christmas 2016

The Grinches Who Tried To Steal My Christmas

On the 16th of December, with Christmas Eve just eight short days away, my good friend from childhood, Matt, called me to see how I was doing.  Towards the end of the conversation he asked:

“Well I guess we should be getting your Christmas letter soon?”

“Man,” I said, “I haven’t even written it yet.  With everything that’s been going on I haven’t felt like it.”

Since the first Christmas that Kim and I spent together, we’ve been committed to always making Christmas special.  We created new traditions as a new family.  Even when it seemed like it would be impossible to enjoy even a moment of Christmas, like the Christmas of 2002, we did everything we could to make it enjoyable.  And it was memorable, as were the rest.

But let’s face it sometimes life throws you a few curve balls.  On top of that, kids grow up, have their own families, and begin to start their own traditions.

And the next thing you know, you are taking down all those boxes and containers with Christmas decorations, taking a look inside,  then putting the lids back on and taking them back up to the attic.

Because this is the year you decide to make Christmas simpler and only put up a few decorations.  You leave that big artificial tree that needed to be assembled and disassembled in the box; and you put up a real tree that you can throw out on the curb right after Christmas.

And instead of the elaborate outside lighting scheme you have traditionally done with the LED lights you bought from Sam’s Club and the iron tripod garden thingies you made to look like Christmas trees; you opt to just purchase a laser projection light so that you can project on the side of your garage with hardly any set up time or effort.

Then you come home one evening to find the reason that your new laser projector isn’t working properly is that there is no longer a new laser projection light at the end of your extension cord! Because, just like in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, someone has stolen your Christmas decorations!

Then you laugh to yourself as you realize that this is just the perfect event to cap off an already less than perfect Christmas.

And let’s be real here, there is a point where your now 28, 30, and 34 year old daughters have got to be sick of wearing the matching Christmas pajamas you have made them wear the last 16 or so years.

Yeah that’s right, what’s the point?

Maybe you shouldn’t write that Christmas letter…who is going to want to read about what a lousy Christmas season you are having anyway?

Then…from out of the blue…

You get a call from a member of your church family who just decided on his way home from work to call you to see how things were going.

Then the next week you get a call from that good childhood friend who also just wanted to see how you were doing.

And on top of that, you get that call while driving home after having just finished your second week of your new job.

Then once at home, you take a good look at the Christmas photo on your new Christmas cards that just got delivered the evening before because you didn’t feel like ordering them either.

And you see your three daughters all grown up and how beautiful they are;

And that you now have a son-in-law in the photo too;

And you see their kids…your grandchildren.

And you see your wife and how timelessly beautiful she is…

And you realize just how lucky you are:

To have friends who care enough about you to call;

To have a new work family;

To have beautiful daughters who have grown up and have started to build their own families;

To have a son in heaven waiting;

To have two wonderful grandsons and maybe a new granddaughter next July;

And last but not least,

To know that you were lucky to meet and marry a woman who you still think was an angel sent from heaven.

And all of a sudden you realize that maybe those Grinches didn’t steal your Christmas after all.

Maybe that person who took your new laser projector needed it more than you did and right now it is projecting on the front of his house with his beautiful children inside warm and making their own memories.

And you helped make that happen.

Yeah that’s right, maybe this Christmas is going to be just as memorable as all the rest that you have celebrated.

Because maybe you really do have “So Much to Be Thankful for This Holiday Season” after all, like your card says!

And maybe it was YOU who was the Grinch all along!

 

So, from ME and the rest of my beautiful family, we hope your Christmas is just as memorable as ours.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Kim, Curt, Savannah, Cameron, Hayley, Alexa, Namaan, Christian, and Donny too!

 

PS: Thanks to my friend Matt for providing the inspiration and kick I needed to write my Christmas letter; and thanks to Jesus for the rest.

(End of Letter)

Follow up:

I tried to mail most of our cards and letters out on Sunday the 18th.  On Thursday evening I was sitting on the couch reading while Kim was finishing up some work when the doorbell rang twice very quickly.  Thinking it was the UPS guy I walked to the front door and peeked out the window expecting to see the UPS truck idling in the street out front but when I saw no truck I realized someone must actually be at the door.  I opened the door to find no one on the porch, but there was wrapped gift sitting squarely at the top of the steps.  I went out on the porch and retrieved the gift, giving one more look around the yard and down the street, seeing no one I went back in explained what had just happened to Kim.

I unwrapped the gift to find someone had gifted us a new laser light.

With a brief moment of winkage, I thought to myself how amazing it was that the spirit of this Christmas continues.

I don’t know who out there made that thoughtful gesture but if you happen to be reading this, I thank you.

I set the new light up yesterday in the front yard.  But this time I thought I would make it a little harder to steal by attaching it to a cinder block with a heavy gauge bicycle lock.

It surely has been a memorable Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all!

You can steal this one if you want, but you are going to be moving a little slower
The Ghost of a Christmas Past … or the Year the Tannenbaum Bombed

The Ghost of a Christmas Past … or the Year the Tannenbaum Bombed

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Our Danish Blue Ice Christmas Tree
Our Danish Blue Ice Christmas Tree

Last week on the day after Thanksgiving, as is my family’s tradition, we put up our Christmas tree.

This year was a little different however because after many years of having an artificial tree, we went back to a live tree.  On the way home from having Thanksgiving dinner with the family in Western Pennsylvania, we stopped at the Moose Apple Christmas Tree Farm in Berryville, Virginia and cut down an unusual Danish Blue Ice Christmas tree.

We made a second stop along the way home to buy a new tree stand because I had thrown out the old one vindictively years ago.

And once that awesome tree was up in the living room I couldn’t help but think about the last time we had a live tree.

And why we had changed to an artificial tree.

And why I had thrown out that tree stand in disgust one day many years ago.

Then I remembered I had written about the events of that last live Christmas tree at the time, and went back in my files to find it.

So here is an edited version of the events of the day that ended the live Christmas trees in my house until last week.

Twas the weeks before Christmas… and here we go…

 

(The following was written December 2007 and edited December 2016)

 

The following story is something that was forwarded to my wife in her email that she shared with me:

Saying Grace in a Restaurant

 Last week, I took my children to a restaurant.

 My six-year-old son asked if he could say grace.

 As we bowed our heads he said, “God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert.  And Liberty and justice for all!  Amen!”

 Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark, “That’s what’s wrong with this country.  Kids today don’t even know how to pray.  Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!”

 Hearing this, my son burst into tears and asked me, “Did I do it wrong?  Is God mad at me?”

 As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job, and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table.

He winked at my son and said, “I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer.”

 “Really?” my son asked.

 “Cross my heart,” the man replied.

 Then, in a theatrical whisper, he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing), “Too bad she never asks God for ice cream.  A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes.”

 Naturally, I bought my kids ice cream at the end of the meal.  My son stared at his for a moment, and then did something I will remember the rest of my life.

 He picked up his sundae and, without a word, walked over and placed it in front of the woman.  With a big smile he told her, “Here, this is for you.  Ice Cream is good for the soul sometimes; and my soul is good already.”

 (Source unknown)

 

I have always been taught that when you pray, you should ask for whatever you want.  So what is wrong with asking for ice cream?

December 4th (2007) was an interesting day.   I had a meeting at 2:00 pm in Fairfax (Virginia) and since this put me closer to home, I decided to finish working out the day at my house.

This particular day was very windy.  As I arrived at my house I was greeted by my relatively new, $350.00, full glass storm door hanging by one hinge, bent, and swinging back and forth in the strong winds.  Angry over the loss of my new door, I removed it from the door frame, carried it around back, and leaned it on its side against the deck.

Now in the back yard, I see that the Christmas tree  I had put up in the garden next to the Koi Pond, with all its decorations and lights, was also laying on its side; with half the tree, the lights and star top, in the Koi pond. Cold and discouraged, I went inside to finish my work.

Around 4:30 pm I received a frantic call from my youngest daughter Savannah on my cell phone.  She was coming home from her second day of working in the Merrifield (Virginia) area and got on the Beltway heading south towards the Wilson Bridge and Maryland, instead of getting on the inner loop heading north as she should have.  While I was trying to talk her through getting turned around on the Beltway, my wife calls me on the house phone also frantic, because neither Savannah nor I am picking up her calls.  So I am now standing in the kitchen with the house phone to one ear with Kim, and my cell phone to the other ear with Savannah, when the cats begin to fight with each other.

The cats zoom by me into the living room and get up under the Christmas tree that we had just set up and decorated over Thanksgiving weekend.

There I stand, in the kitchen with a phone to each ear, having two conversations at once, while I watch in horror as the cats topple over the Christmas tree.  To make matters worse, this year I had found the “the bomb” Christmas tree stand… The one that cost a bunch of money; the one with the foot operated ratcheting jaws that allows you to stand holding the tree straight while you ratchet down the jaws around the tree trunk with your foot.

The tree stand that in addition to all those other cool things holds four gallons of water and like the Titanic, is “untopple-overable.”

Now I am the one who is frantic, so I told my wife I had to get off the phone while I righted the tree, but I still had to get Savannah turned around on the Beltway.

Now in the living room with the Christmas tree in one hand and the cell phone to my ear in the other, the doorbell rings.  Then it rings again.

It’s the UPS guy.

He is persistent because his delivery requires a signature.  After some initial hesitation, I lean the tree against wall, I tell Savannah to call me back in couple of minutes, and I answer the door.

The UPS guy is a nice guy, but he likes to talk.   As we stood in the doorway now without a storm door, I told him about the door, and the cats, and the Christmas tree. I was trying to get him to realize that it was bad timing and I was in a hurry.  Of course he wanted to share his cat stories too, and told me he thought he remembered a storm door on the house; then he laughed a little.  Me, not finding anything funny, and Savannah now calling back, I finally just told him I had to go.

With Savannah now heading in the right direction on the Beltway, I get a call on my cell phone from someone from work needing to discuss some important work stuff.  While on that call, still concerned about Savannah, the house phone rings again and thinking it might be her I answer it while still on the cell with my co-worker.  Now for the second time today, I am in the kitchen with a phone to each ear.  This time it is not Savannah however, it is Alexa (oldest daughter,  and I can tell by the sound of her voice that she has a problem, or maybe better said, thinks she has a problem).

“Alexa can I call you back,” I asked hurriedly.

“Well ooookaay” she said obviously not happy.

Feeling bad, I said, “Look Alexa; the Christmas tree fell down,  I have 4 gallons of water in the carpet, the storm door blew off,  and I am on the phone with somebody from work…Is there something really wrong?”

“Yes” she said. “I have a big problem!”

“Is it an emergency? Are you bleeding?  Can it wait a few minutes???” I pleaded.

“Noooo, it’s not an emergency” she said with a heavy sigh.

“Okay please let me call you back”

Having heard all that, my co-worker realizes it’s probably not the best time to be talking to me about work problems and she hangs up the phone too.

Now I have a moment with no one on the phone.  I begin to clean up the busted antique ornaments, the keepsakes from the kids’ first Christmas’s, the shattered Steelers ornaments and the other colored balls, when my wife comes home.

Seeing that I am all worked up and dramatic, she acts like it’s no big deal and says just what I didn’t need to hear:

“Honey, it’s just a Christmas tree, they are just some ornaments, and it’s just a door that I didn’t like anyway, so get over it!”

“I hate it when she says stuff like that…she wasn’t here…she doesn’t know…you don’t just get over it,”  I said to myself dejectedly.

Feeling defeated, I get out the wet vac, pull up the carpet, suck up the water, start blowing air under the carpet, vacuum the rest of the mess, and move the tree to the other end of the room.

Then, on top of all that, I make dinner, because Savannah, who is now finally home from her Beltway adventure… is hungry.

Sitting down at the table ready to eat, I ask my wife to say The Blessing because I am too beaten and broken and apparently way to dramatic to be thanking anyone for anything.

And her prayer went like this:

“Dear God,

Thank you for this food we are about to eat.

Thank you for getting us all home safely from work.

Thank you for caring for all those who we know who are sick.

Thank you for the wind that blew the door off the house because I didn’t like that door any way and now I can get a new one.

Thank you for the cats who knocked over the Christmas tree and spilled the water and ruined the carpet because now I can get the wooden floors I want.

Thank you for everything.

In your name we pray,

Amen”

 

“Amen” …I said…

The End

 

And that is how it happened now nine years ago today.

Like the little boy praying for ice cream in the opening story I am sure God wasn’t mad at Kim for her prayer (though He may have been a little mad at me for my behavior).

Though Kim never got her wooden floors in that room, she did get her new door.

And like my wife said nine years ago, “it’s just a Christmas tree, they are just some ornaments;” I guess that is not what Christmas is all about anyway.

Because like a little ice cream, Christmas is good for the soul too.

And  it doesn’t really matter whether it’s a live tree or an artificial tree at all.

And I suppose I still need to get over that…because I don’t really know if my soul is good already!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

I just cut my tree down at the Moose Apple Christmas Tree Farm in Berryville, VA
Pulling my tree on a sled after cutting it down at the Moose Apple Christmas Tree Farm in Berryville, VA