Christmas Decorating at the Garcia House

There is most definitely a method to the holiday madness in the Garcia home. Everything from picking out the tree to the last bell on the fireplace is dictated by tradition and me. Ok, so maybe not me, but pretty close.

Let's start with the tree. All the kids and my mother will tell you that I usually pick out the tree. And I do. Pretty much every year. However, this year, Mary Lou picked it out. It took a long time and I mean a VERY long time to pick out this year's tree. There was another couple picking out their tree at the same time and the man came up to my mom and said "My gosh, it's like the U.N." My mom just smiled and said "You have no idea."

Next comes the actual decorating. The first thing on the agenda is to push the couch and Dad's chair back and turn them around to face the tree. Let me just go ahead and say that Dad does not do much in the way of decorating. He just sits back and bites his tongue as we take over.

After moving furniture around, the next thing is the lights which Jess and I do. This happens with very little bickering between the two of us. Ben wanted to help with the lights, but we put him in charge of the berries and various other strands of random goodies. He and Katie ended up doing those.

While the lights and berries were going on the tree, Caroline and Mary Lou were going through the ornaments and separating them by child into piles on the floor. This way all we had to do was grab our ornaments. Again, tradition is key here, people.

With the lights and ornaments on the tree, it's time for the Angel. Dad had this angel before he and Mom got married. The Angel has it's own little box and on the box her FULL name is written. By full name, I mean Naomi Suzanne Louise Elizabeth Ann. Those are the middle names of all the girls in our family. Each year, someone else gets to put the angel on the tree. However, with eight of us, that means you get to do it every eight years. Katie did it this year, Ben is next year, and that means that I get to do it in 2010. Go me.

The next step is to turn the lights in the living room off and plug the lights on the tree in. Dad's only real job is to say his one line. The line goes like this: "This is the prettiest tree we have ever had!" Every year, same thing.

We finish up with cookies and hot chocolate. Pictures to come soon.