Beyond LIttle House and Christmas Trees

I had meant to post the link to Beyond Little House,but I forgot to do so. I guess I was too involved in my train of thought.

This morning when I checked to see if I had any comments to my post,Sue from Living the Good Life ( a great blog) had requested the link to the site.

I don't know if you can "get there from here," but the address is: www.beyondlittlehouse.com

Again,it is a great site,full of links to various articles,ranging from ones about the books,to Laura and Rose's relationship,Laura's political views,etc.I think any Laura Ingalls Wilder fan should check it out.The first day I found it ( after being a LIW fan on Facebook) I spent over 2 hours reading it! Only when my eyes got tired did I stop.( Damn these middle aged eyes!!!)

I am always inspired when I read anything about Laura,or if I watch some of the series,or the mini series that came out in 2005. I actually emailed Disney to see if they were going to make another series,this time more based on the books,but they responded they had no plans to do so :(

In fact,last year I decorated my tree with red and white plaid ribbons,lights,and very little else. It looked great.Very simple,not overdone.At first, I thought it might be too "cute",but I was happy to see that wasn't the case. Rick even liked the way it looked. I saw how "Ma" had decorated her house on the mini series with red and white plaid ribbons (which I think were actually fabric) and I loved the look. This year I bought more ribbons,and we will have white lights instead of colored this year.Of course, being on the prairie,trees were at a minimum,so in the books,the Christmas tree was always at church,and seeing it was a source of excitement.

It makes you realize it's the simple things that matter most.

My Dad was born in 1914. Sadly,he passed in 1990 due to complications with Alzheimer's. However,before he got sick he would tell me stories of him growing up,and one of my favorites was of the Christmas tree.

My Dad grew up in a good sized family,and there was not a lot of money. Each child would get one gift,but he said one of the best gifts was the Christmas tree. The tree would not be put up until Christmas Eve,after all the children had gone to bed. When they woke up,the tree would be up,all the candles on it would be lit,and that was part of their gift. My Dad never mentioned what gifts he received when he would tell this story.He never remembered what he got. It was all about the tree. The tree,the food,and how they would all go to his grandparents house,where there was a piano. They would all stand around it and sing Christmas songs.That is what he remembered.

To me that type of memory is the best Christmas gift of all.