Even the two years we spent in Puerto Rico did not stop Fran from finding a "fresh" cut tree. She would go to the docks in Cataño and find a container ship that had unloaded fresh (sort of frozen) trees shipped down from Maine. Our present home at Valeria has fourteen foot ceilings. This year we have a nine foot tree, but we have had trees up to twelve feet tall the past few years. We had to sign an insurance waiver when we went to decorate the taller trees!
This year we had friends over to help us decorate the tree. I unwrapped and handed out the ornaments to our invited elves. As I handled each ornaments, the memory and/or story of each came to mind. I will take you on a picture tour of some of our forty years of Christmas tree ornaments.
Some of the ornaments were purchased while on vacations.
Jim and Susan are former neighbors and they now have their home on Grand Cayman Island.
This Saint Bridget's cross is from Galway.
We have two ceramic figures from Puerto Rico, one for Debbie and one for Jackie.
Here is a cable car we picked up in San Francisco.
This one is from a cruise we took to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
From a solo shopping trip by Fran while we visited London.
We stayed a week in Nevada near Lake Tahoe.
This shell came from a trip to Hawaii to celebrate our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.
This is from the Biltmore Estate near Asheville, NC.
This pineapple ornament is from Colonial Williamsburg.
This ornament is from Ruté in Spain – the anis capital of Europe.
Most prominent on our tree are homemade ornaments. Some of these are from friends, but most from relatives.
Margarine tops were favorites at nursery school!
This purple bell from Circle School keeps making it to the front center of our tree each year. That is the only down side to having your children help with the decorating.
A popscicle sled made by one of Fran's former bosses.
Simulated stained glass ornaments made by Debbie and Jackie at least twenty-five years ago!
Here are some lace stars and linen angels. 
These angels are made from macaroni. They are some of the many homemade ornaments made by my sister Dorothy. So is the macaroni wreath.
The glass fired Santa Claus came from the kiln of the mother of dear friends.
Fran's stepmother crocheted several of these ornaments.
The felt angel is from a young woman we have know since she was a small child.
There are several other ornaments with small stories and big memories.
This is an ornament with pictures of the Croton Dam.
Fran and I played more than our share of mixed doubles. These were good times.
My father was very serious about keeping birds fed during the winter months. I have inherited this but with slightly less commitment.
Did I mention that my father lived on a golf course for several years and scavanged about 10,000 golf balls.
We have one child with a super hero fetish.
This is the wedding at Cana. A reminder of our December wedding anniverary.
What is Christmas without a football ornament. Go Giants!
Twenty years vacationing in Vermont and we did not see one moose!
The bird's nest is supposed to bring good luck. We could use some.
We have over twenty years of Christmas silver bells that my mom and dad gave us each year.
Here is the finished project. Another year with the "perfect" tree! Merry Christmas everyone!
