Topping the Tree

It is family tradition that the kids place the star on the tree with the help of the tallest member in our house, Steve, of course.

What this picture does not tell is the tale of the journey to this moment. Once we found this tree the day after Thanksgiving (Argentines don't put up trees until Dec. 8) we wrapped the individual branches with 7 strands of lights. Within 90 minutes of pluggin them in, every bulb had burned out and was completely black due to the 220v of electricity that surged through the lights made for 110v. And as with everything else in this country that requires electricity, we found overpriced lights for AR$30 per strand. Reluctantly, we purchased 4 strands. What we did not know if that that they are the old technology - if one goes out, the whole strand does too! As you can guess, we are now down to 3 strands on the tree, even though we checked them to see if they worked before we left the store.

The kids and I decorated the tree one afternoon while Steve was at work and Abe anxiously awaited Steve's arrival so that he could put the star on top of the tree! I love all of the small Christmas traditions.