Our Happy Family: Festival of Trees

One of my very favorite holiday activities has long been the Festival of Trees. We started going the first year I did preschool, and we've gone every year since. This was John's first year to accompany us. The trees are usually done as a tribute to someone who has passed away. The pictures often make me teary, but in a sweet way. For John it was a bit of a downer. But we all loved the many trees. The kids always pick out some of their favorite trees and have their picture taken in front.

This one was actually several blue trees bent to look like a wave for Santa and the elves to surf on. One thing I've always wondered: who buys these trees year after year? Do rich people just keep getting a new one each year? What do they do with the old ones? Or maybe there are enough rich people around to create a steady flow of buyers?

We haven't done the crafts there for a while, but this year we did. (One awkward side-effect of being unemployed is that I feel like I need to tell how we justified unnecessary expenses. So - we used Christmas money from my mom for this.)