We had a sixteen foot vaulted ceiling and naturally couldn't have any kind of small tree, we always had to have a twelve foot or more tree. The first Saturday after Thanksgiving, dad would hook on the trailer to our Blazer and we would head into the little town of Tooele. We had our favorite Christmas Tree lots that usually would have some decent sized trees. Dad always brought his tape measure so we could measure and get the tallest tree we could find. Now mind you, dad got into the whole hunting for the tallest tree just as much as us kids did. We would spend half the morning going around to the lots and measuring the trees until we found the tallest one. Us kids and dad would quickly go from tree to tree so excited to see if it was the one for us. It was almost as fun as opening up the presents on Christmas Morning. Once we found the perfect tree, dad would load it up in the trailer and we would head for home. We lived way out in the country in a little Township called Pine Canyon and once we hit Erickson road, dad would pull over and let us kids hop out and go ride with the tree in the trailer. Now days, that would be highly frowned upon, but oh it was so much fun to hang on the back of the trailer and feel the excitement of the wind blowing in our faces. Funny enough, I didn't mind the cold as much back then as I do now. When we got home, dad would prepare the tree to go in the stand and be brought in the house. Meanwhile us kids would be in the house helping mom get out all of the decorations. We had a hodge podge of home made decorations, and the ones I loved the most were the ones my mom had made in Relief Society back when her and my dad first got married. They are made out of egg cartons, glued together, and brightly colored. Mom, every year would tell us the story of how she made them and I would always notice the care she used with them, almost as if they were the most expensive and delicate ornaments of them all. We had very little in the way of store bought ornaments as my mom is a very creative and crafty person. I loved all of the homemade ornaments that she had made over the years. Once dad had brought the tree in, mom would put on the Christmas music and we would all sing and laugh as we put up the decorations and trimmed the tree. Mom would always worry as me and my brothers would climb like monkeys on the railings and banisters just to be able to reach the top of the tree to decorate it. Going to pick out the tree and decorate it was always and all day event, but it was so much fun and probably some of my favorite memories.
Now my parents have a twelve foot fake tree. It's still a tradition to put up the tree on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving. My parents have been married for some 45 years now and we still lovingly put the egg carton decorations on the tree and every year mom tells the story about them. I love to see the look on her face as she talks about it. Now there are the grandkids that get to help grandpa build the tree. We use ladders and hooks to reach the top, but the kids all like to climb on the railing and banister to put the ornaments at the top, and grandma still gets nervous every time. It's still an all day event to decorate grandma's house and it is always filled with Christmas music and laughter. The ornaments are still all homemade and I love them. As a matter of fact, I decorate my Christmas Tree all in the homemade ornaments that my mother has made. And I love to tell the kids the stories.
