Our Tree

Under our X-mas tree are GI Joe and Star Wars action figures climbing over the train and up the tree. April and I are both kids at heart- and sometimes you just have to make your own traditions.

Tradition - that is this time of year. Families have traditions, the way they celebrate the holiday, the way they decorate a tree, when presents are opened, what stockings to hang.

So we have a bit of tradition from our families, but with each generation comes its own twist - and this year we started ours this year. It started with a X-mas tree - bought by my good friend Jamie- and put up by our housekeeper, Laura. April came to town so we went to three stores for decorations (Target had the best).

The decorations were fairly traditional - then we had our talk-- and so now the twist. I wanted a train set -- always did, under the tree. Off we went to a train store and purchased a starter set. They had an Alaskan Railroad car so we had to get that, and turns out in 2000 my brother Ron stayed over that x-mas and gave me a railroad car to commemorate it - and that went into the set. Turns out that somewhere April has a family train set- and it will go with this.

Then I looked at her -- "would it be weird if we put a few other things on the tree? A smile opened up like the San Andreas fault. Soon we were at the toy section in Target and buying action figures for the tree - - and well, you see the result.

Last night as we thought about it-- we are both starting a fresh- new tree, new traditions, some old. "I can't wait til next year when we will have more additions to the family." Notice she said that in pleural - not that we are expecting twins, or more- but adopting is high on our list.

So - we have a few traditions that we started -- action figures, trains, a cigar - and then there are the stockings. We found two stockings -- one that says "Santa I can explain." The other says "Naughty." Somehow, given we are going to have a "premature' baby-- it seemed appropriate.

This is the most amazing Christmas -- because it is the start of hopefully many more to come-- and while for years most could identify me with the Dicken's character - Scrooge (in jest, really) -- I want to be known as the one character who always celebrated the holiday, and where everyone wanted to be - -Mr. Fuzziwig.