Holiday Traditions; Festival of Trees

I couldn't resist participating in this fun giveaway and holiday meme hosted by Jen from Tatertots and Jello and Beckie from Infarrantly Creative. They are giving away a Mint Cleaner than cleans your hardwood surfaces. I need one! With a busy as a bee 9 month old (I can keep saying that for a few more days, ha) everywhere, I want to have clean floors for her. Something like this would really help me out! Especially on the days when my health is less than stellar.

One of the topics for the blog post is "What is one holiday tradition that you treasure that you hope to pass down to your children?" and I picked that one because honestly, I probably would have wrote something about it anyway.

There are a few traditions I would like to pass along to Sookie, but for this post, I will talk about our annual visit to The Festival of Trees. In short, it is a fundraiser to benefit Primary Children's Medical Center. Volunteers purchase and decorate trees to be auctioned off.

But to get into more detail, it truly is such a magical experience. The above is a photo of an I Love Lucy tree. Every year I am inspired by the sheer creativity of everyone involved and how imaginative they are with their decorations and themes. In addition to tree, there are also wreaths, gingerbread houses, and of course the feature that always gets me into trouble; the sweet shoppe, where there is every kind of sugary treat you can dream of. We have been going ever since I can remember and I would love for Sookie to keep this tradition with her children as well. It really helps to get in the holiday spirit if I am having a hard time that year, but it also just reminds me of everything (and everyone) that I have. Many of the trees are dedicated to loved ones that have been lost, many of them babies who for some reason or another, lost their battle at Primary Children's.

Oh, I'm giddy just looking at these photos and thinking about going this year. I can't wait to see it all through Sookie's innocent and curious eyes.

No doubt this year will be extra emotional with me toting along my miracle while silently weeping in a crowded room for those sweet angels celebrating Christmas in heaven.

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I am  participating in Infarrantly Creative and Tatertots and Jello’s Blog Hop for a chance to win a Mint Cleaner. It is the revolutionary machine that cleans your hard floor surfaces for you.

Click here to join the blog hop and a chance to win!

The Mint Cleaner is  available at the following places:

Amazon
The Mint Cleaner

HSN

Bed, Bath & Beyond