As many of you know I grew up in England where the holiday traditions are a little different.  In my childhood home our Christmas tree always magically appeared overnight.  My mother decorated it while we were in bed; it was trimmed to perfection with matching glass balls, tinsel and fancy colored lights with even the star on top coordinating and perfectly aligned.  I loved the tree of my childhood and my first years of living in Maine I missed it terribly.  Even with the joy of tromping through the woods to pick and cut the perfect Maine balsam fir it didn’t feel quite right.

Now as my own family has grown and I have embraced the traditions around me my favorite part of the holiday season is our tree. As we trim it together with mismatched decorations, white and sometimes blue lights and a random assortment of homemade treasures that remind us of past years, we laugh, reminisce and share stories about the meaning each ornament has. From the cute baby sized handprint reindeer, the occasionally tacky souvenir from faraway places (think Santa in swim shorts riding a turtle from Hawaii!) to the glitter pine cones Uncle Frank made one year everything has sentimental meaning.  As we individually pull things from the storage boxes the kids love to see who can reach the highest and even though we have a one ornament per branch rule our tree is a mismatch of color, shape and content.  From the bells that hang around the bottom to catch any sneaky elves who may want to climb up the tree, to the handmade angel given to us by a dear friend we truly cherish each and every ornament.

Our tree is a poignant, annual reminder of all we have to be thankful for and the love we share in our home. Oh and in case you were wondering and wanted to compare ‘our tree is the biggest, most beautiful tree in the whole, wide world’

I hope that however you celebrate the Holidays you have special family traditions that allow you to spend quality time with the ones you love the most.

From our home to yours we send much love for a Happy Holiday season. Alex