Oh, Christmas Tree!

Sarah and Mark look over the inventory while shopping for the tree. Sherry’s Shots Having a houseful of kids for the first time in years has brought all sorts of blessings to the household of Paul and Sherry Matney. Our youngest son left the nest in 1979 when he moved to College Station to attend Texas A&M. Since that time our Christmases have revolved around when the kids could come in. Do we get everyone on Christmas Eve or must we wait until Christmas Day?

This year has been completely different because six of our 12 grandchildren are living with us. We were blessed to have the entire family move in earlier this year and to say it has been fun is a huge understatement. Getting ready for Christmas has been every bit as much fun as the big day and Paul and I are working hard to keep up with the kids.

On Tuesday, December 1, the kids helped get every Christmas ornament and light down from the attic and on Wednesday their mom let them take some time off from school and we decorated the inside of the house. We didn’t just decorate -- we REALLY decorated. It would be a challenge to find one square foot in our living area that does not have something Christmasy on it. The house has tall cabinets and a very high ceiling so we put 14 artificial trees on top of cabinets and furniture.

Next day; the outside of the house. When we built the house we had plug-ins on each corner of the porch and put up cup hooks to make hanging icicle light easier. So on Thursday, just before a cold spell blew in, the kids hung the lights. Oh what a surprise that they did it so easily. The most difficult thing was unwrapping them so they would not tangle. Several years ago we purchased a set of lighted deer with a sleigh; that also came out of storage. The kids put out lighted candy canes and twinkling snowflakes and lined the walkways with those big white lights and thought it looked splendid.

But what is all of this glory without a Christmas tree? A few years ago I bought a 12-foot tree that is loaded with lights and it works well when the kids are only at home for a few hours or one night at best. But not this year! This may very well be the only time we have six children, from 4 to 13, to help us old codgers experience Christmas.

The first choice was to find a beautiful tree in the woods and cut it, much like Chevy Chase did on Christmas Vacation. The problem with that is most of the native evergreens around here are pine or cedar. Pine makes pretty wreaths and garlands but the trees just don’t quite cut it as a central part of the Christmas Season. The kids and I searched our property for a pretty cedar that would go all the way to the ceiling but something was always missing, and besides, some of us are allergic to cedar.

So the next step was to find a great Christmas tree farm with the perfect Christmas Tree. On Saturday, December 5, on a chilly, sunshiny day, the Matneys invaded The Huebner Christmas Tree Farm. When we drove onto the property the kids began making their requests known as we climbed onto the trailer to be transported around the farm.

Steve wanted to know the size and without hesitation every child said “we want as big a tree as you have.” To which Steve replied “I have just the thing for you.” And off we went.

He parked the trailer at a row of gorgeous trees that were 10 to 12 feet tall. They were Leland Cypress and were all beautifully shaped. By this time the kids could not contain themselves. They jumped out of the trailer and began examining each prospective tree.

One wanted one and another wanted another and then we saw it—the perfect tree. This one had a straight trunk, was full all the way around and all the way up to the top. It was 12 ½ feet tall and measured about 7 feet across the bottom. Steve had trimmed it so it had grown with a perfect shape and the ends of the branches feathered all the way to the top. There was no arguing; this was the tree.

Steve had told us that he would come back around and cut whatever we chose so when he made it back around, we all pointed to the tree. He took out his trusty chain saw and within seconds the beautiful tree lay at our feet on the ground. Now all there was to do was to bag it and tie it on top of the suburban. Once that was accomplished, decorating it was the next chore.

Ever since Paul and I have been married I’m the one who decorates the tree. Maybe a few times, when the boys were young they put on a ball or two, but mostly it was my job. Not so this year. After we put the tree up, using this enormous stand, the little minions began working; climbing up and down the ladder, trying to space the ornaments just right. What fun it was. We laughed and sang every Christmas carol we could remember. I hope this created a beautiful memory for some or all of them; I know it did for me.