I wish I could see the photos! For years, I've thought, "A 'weed-tree' (ailanthus) would make a GREAT Bonsai, because it's so fast growing and resilient!" Finally, a week ago I saved one small seedling growing in an empty pot of soil in my backyard, and put it in it's own small pot for now. I removed all the leaf clusters but one, and left the growing tip. I removed half the tap root. After a week, the tip has turned into a small healthy leaf cluster and the one I left has grown to twice its size. The trunk has grown about two inches. I just started looking for other experimenters online with the Heavenly Trees. Apparently, the fact that it's extremely fast growing might cause problems, as well as other problems like leaf size not diminishing in spite of bonsai training? If anyone knows of any successful work at Bonai-ing a Tree of Heaven and/or photos, please share it! I will hopefully be able to share my experiment soon.

I'm tickled that you like our tradition. It seems so many people are getting away from traditional things these days. I think it's important to do things for our children to remember and hopefully care enough about to do them for their own children. At any rate, it's something that gets everyone involved, working together and having fun. I have many fond memories of Christmas. I was raised by my grandparents (After my mother died when I was three and a half and my brother was two, and our dad was too sick to care for us by himself.) and we spent several Christmases at my aunt's home in Vermont. We would do a "Man On The Street" skit, where my oldest cousin (of 5) would interview people. He and my uncle were very funny, and the whole thing was absolutely hilarious! I sure would like to get my hands on one of those tapes. However, my brother and his friends did it a couple of years with our grandmother (after I had moved away) and I DO have those tapes. Very, very funny stuff! They impersonated famous people being interviewed. One year, the girls and I listened to the tapes while we were baking Christmas cookies. We were so busy laughing, crying and trying to keep the very little grandkids from dropping cookie dough on the floor and putting it back in the bowl...we ruined most of the cookies! It sure was fun though! Boy...I sure am long-winded! ~Sandy~

DH brings the tree box out of the attic on the day after Thanksgiving. I then send everyone out of the house. I assemble and light the tree. It is a weekend-long thing for me with the tree, I put all of the ornaments and such and stand back and move things, stand back, sleep on it and move things. Neuroses pure and simple about the tree. That's why I send everyone out. Then the house decorating begins. I rummage through all of the boxes to find the things I want to put out. It differs from year to year, some years are red and some years are burgandy. I am crazy with the color thing as well. Little tip, if you hate the way your hands feel after weaving the lights on your tree, I have been using an old pair of leather gloves the past few years and they save my hands from little cuts and such from doing the lights! I won't light the tree or anything for that matter with bare hands again! I just put the gloves away in the tree box and that way I know where they are on the day I need them. I was amazed how discolored and torn up the gloves were after the first year I started using my head. My leather gloves are red, they are now a black color and lots of little cut marks. I don't think the tree gets dusty, but something comes off of it! LOL. Family traditions - SIL hosts an early afternoon supper (try and not have her little ones up to late). We exchange gifts with DH family and eat, eat and eat some more. Come home and assemble Christmas morning sticky buns. Sits in the oven overnight to rise. It's a cinnamon bun kind of thing with frozen dinner rolls as the main ingredient. It's simple and we don't really like big breakfasts in our house. I just serve hot coffee, or hot cocoa and OJ. We open presents and just relax till noon or so. Then I clean up and start getting ready for the dinner. Christmas day I cook dinner for my parents and brother and SIL. Shrimp cocktail and hot crab dip start the dinner which is usually a standing rib roast. Different sides every year. Dessert the last couple of years has been the giant carmel apples from Williams Sonoma (to die for), cookies, homemade candy, WS peppermint bark. We open presents again. I love to shuffle my Christmas CDs through the holiday season, it puts me in good mood after a long day of shopping and spending.

Wow Jeanne! I love these pictures of your tree...its Magnificent with the blue lights and all the Lovely Angels. I mentioned in another post to you how I enjoy seeing Mr & Mrs Claus....as a Holiday Tradition here! Love their 'Group of Friends' too. TFS jane