Christmas Tree

Here is a copy of our Christmas Letter this year. Hope it brings you warm memories of your own Christmases past. Also, pictures of our Christmas tree, Japanese style, with the perfect decorations - pictures of friends and family from home.





Chrissy is much better at keeping the traditions of the holidays alive than I am. She began playing carols the day after thanksgiving, as usual. Yesterday, we hunted for a tree, but we didn’t find the right kind of tree. We have seen assortments of fake and live trees, but we were looking for something that would mark this as a special holiday; Christmas with a Japanese flair. Today we met at the Royal Home Center, a small hardware store close to our home, where we found what we had been searching for. We bought 3 bamboo brooms destined to become our Christmas tree this year. Right now, the make shift tree stands on three legs, the handles of the brooms, & the straw of the broom shape the tree. It is still not decked beyond 9 blue ribbons & 5 pine cones, but it looks like it will make a special tree.

Hunting Christmas trees brings back memories of all our Christmases past. My earliest favorite hunt took Me, Rick & Ray back into the valley of our old Alaskan home by dog sled and skis. The trees were thin, limbs & shapes were hidden by snow, & the right tree difficult to find. Another favorite was Our first Christmas together in Anchorage. Chrissy insisted on a live tree that we bought at a lot. But, as soon as we brought it into our warm apartment it proved to be a dead tree & we watched as all the needles tinkled to the ground. We picked sharp pine needles out of the carpet for months. The next year we bought a fake tree, which still decorates our house at Christmas.

An absolute favorite Christmas tree hunt memory was when we went in the old VW van up into the mountains between Ellensburg & Kittitas. The girls were young & we had a nice blanket of snow. While it was cold that day, it is one of the warmest memories I have around the holidays. Other special trees include the perfect 14-foot tree, placed in the entry of our newly remodeled house on Irving, that Zach had spied from across acres of trees at the tree farm in Pullman, & the forest of trees, large and small, that we erected in the entry the last couple of years.

Every year, Chrissy would create an event for decking the tree. She would organize an evening of spiced cider, candy canes & carols. The girls & I would often roll our eyes at each other as we helped decorate the tree. Each year the girls would alternate placing the angel atop the tree. As the years pass it becomes more & more difficult to coordinate the decoration of the tree. This year, it is just the two of us. The girls will not make it to Japan for Christmas, they will come another time.

As we decorate this tree, I don’t roll my eyes. Trimming the brooms to shape a tree & watching Chrissy place the ribbons and pine cones on the tree has already linked this tree with the special trees of the past. It has brought back memories of all the people we love. Later, as we finish decorating the tree, you will all once again be in our memories and forever in our hearts. Wishing you Peace & Love this Christmas, Rex & Chrissy