Oh, Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree, Oh fake and plastic Christmas tree

Having tried buying a live tree that we would plant next spring and neither of us satisfied with the way it looked. we have gone back to the tried and true fake tree that we have had for about a dozen years.
In the beginning it was supposed to be fake one year, real the next. I got lazy and we have done fake for some time.
   I pulled the tree down from the attic its green plastic storage bag covered with a year’s accumulation of dust and wear bumping down each step in time to the opening notes of the little drummer boy.
Many years ago I lost the directions to putting the tree together so each year it takes me a little time to remember which letters go where on the tree. I did have the good sense every year to tape the branches for the same level together, mostly because a lot of the letters have fallen off the tree.
When the girls saw I was putting up the tree they complained that it was too short until I showed them the final foot of the tree. Then I got an approving ‘ahhh’ from them. When the tree was together I got another ‘ahhh’ of approval and when the lights were put on the tree and they were different colors and were big I got a third ‘ahhh’ from them.
I have hallmark ornaments that I have been collecting since the early 1990’s and they have become important to me and each year I see them get a little older and work a little less or not at all so I try to appreciate them more as the years go by and each one has a special place on the tree and is put up with care and the wrappings are put back in the box to be rewrapped for next year. That almost is what happened this year. The girls were very interested in decorating the tree and Teri and I both wanted it to be a special time for both so they put ornaments up on the tree and we both tried to help them while making sure that the important ones did not get dropped or put in places one of the cats might find the perfect height to hit with his paw. The tree came out very nice and nothing got broken and the girls had fun doing it.
We watched ‘Christmas Vacation’ while we did the tree. The girls asked when Christmas is only a few times while we were doing the tree, and that was a record.
My mother remarked that the difference between here and Russia has to be extreme and do they really know what to expect for Christmas? She said when she asked Nastia what she wanted for Christmas her answer was her ears pierced and that was it. I hope we don’t spoil them.