As you know we decided to do a tree this past year for the Festival of Trees. The Festival of Trees here in Utah is one of the largest and benefits Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake. We decided to do a faith centered tree - because of our daughter, Faith, and also because faith in Christ is the reason we celebrate Christmas.
The ornaments that we made had a picture of Christ on one side and a scripture on the opposite side. There were 50 scriptures that I chose (and John helped format). We purchased 72 different pictures of the Savior.
My friend also made some ornaments that were silver and had the different names of the Savior (Emmanuel, Christ, the Good Shepherd, etc.) in red sparkly vinyl.
We also found the word FAITH with Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus under the "F" which we rigged to be the main focus of the tree.
On the day of set up I was feeling nervous - I'm not a decorator and the task seemed a bit overwhelming. But the volunteers at the Festival are very organized and we got to our spot, unloaded everything and got to work.
One of the major problems is that the tree has to be stabilized so that the volunteers can basically lift a bag up from the base and deliver it the day after the Festival ends. That means that one is required to: purchase this heavy duty tree stand made of metal pipes, secure the stand with pvc pipe in the hollow part of the center, stabilize the tree with rebar fastened hose clamps against the trunk, and screw the parts of the tree together. Luckily there are "tree doctors" there to help. I thought I could do it myself- BOY was I wrong. We couldn't get the tree to be straight, we couldn't get the hose clamps tight enough. My pvc pipe was too tall (by like a foot). And I forgot the screws to connect the tree parts together. Those three men helped us for almost 20 minutes :) And even helped adjust it so that it would be straight.
After the technical issues, decorating was a breeze thanks to my helpers who made everything look fabulous. I am so glad that these ladies helped me otherwise I would have been there all day by myself, and it wouldn't look as well as it did.
The next night was the Gala. One can pay to go to the dinner an auction but I didn't feel like I needed to do that, especially since I wouldn't be bidding on anything (I couldn't afford any of those beautiful trees or quilts). We arrived at eight with my cousin, Kristi, and her husband. It was fabulous to be able to walk through without the normal crowds and without children. We went down EVERY isle.
When we got to my tree - there was no green tag - so it had been purchased! I was ecstatic. I wasn't too worried after I got the donations of the concert tickets and all the pictures underneath, but I was still a little nervous that it wouldn't sell on the first night. I would say 75% of the trees, quilts, wreaths, and gingerbread houses had been purchased by the time we got to the gala that night.
We received many donations from many loving people in our family and friends circle. One donor donated enough to purchase the tree itself. One donor donated the garland that I chose. One donor donated the items that were included under the tree (artwork, books, and cds). One donor donated the nativity that was under the tree as well as the "Faith" one that was on the tree. Some others donated money to help purchase the ornaments and pictures inside. One donor donated 4 tickets to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert (with Tom Brokaw) - I know that was a HUGE selling point. Others donated time: the Young Woman group in my ward spent an evening cutting out pictures and scriptures and assembling the 72 ornaments, two wonderful ladies helped me assemble everything to make it look beautiful, and two other ladies helped watch my boys so that I could spend a couple hours setting everything up. It was a wonderful experience and I feel very blessed to have felt the generosity of these people and the love they showed to me & PCMC.
It was great to see the picture of my little Faith next to my Faith tree and the sold sign all together.
"A Season of Faith:
Eight years ago our daughter, Faith Joan Fitch, was born. Through her short life of ten months we were blessed many times. One of the major blessings was the care she received from the sweet doctors and nurses at Primary Childrens.
The many miracles that kept her with us for those ten months as well as the knowledge that we will see her again all cam from our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ.
We are most grateful for His gift of the Atonement and wish everyone a season full of love and faith."
0 comments:
Post a Comment