Christmas Traditions

From our own Keith Holmes: The day after Thanksgiving Day, we have a tradition which starts in the morning, sleeping in, and then a nice late breakfast. Then (depending on the time of the Nebraska football game, we start taking down the Thanksgiving decorations, and start hauling up the Christmas decorations.

Late in the afternoon, when most of the shoppers are worn out and heading home, we load up the family and head out to buy our Christmas tree. After a hunt that would make Esau proud, tracking, surrounding, and sizing and ultimately hauling the tree between our shoulders as a prize fit to be mounted in the living room, we wrap (in that plastic netting), buy and mount the tree onto the top of our car.

Proudly displaying for all to see, that they did not get the best tree that Omaha had to offer. As soon as we have our tree, we head out to dinner at a local restaurant, usually a BBQ joint, where we regale one another of tales of the hunt, or what else happened on the day.

Upon our return home, full of food and mirth, we take the Christmas tree in, and prepare it for tomorrow, when the Carols will play on the stereo (or Pandora on the computer these days), and we will decorate the simple pine tree transforming it into a visual treat for the eyes, topped off by an angel to remind us of the heralding of birth of our savior.

Let others know how your family 'captures' your Christmas tree.  Is it as dramatic as Keith's, or do you trudge down to the basement to pull yours from a dark storage area, because there are those in the house that are allergic to a live tree?