The Festival of Trees

Every year in Utah The Festival of Trees opens in December.  It's a charitable organization that auctions off donated, decorated Christmas trees.  Every year the trees become more and more amazing and you can see every theme under the sun.  The Christmas of 2002 our cousin, Karen Sonkens and her mother (my dad's sister) Nancy went to town creating a tree in honor of Georgia.  It was absolutely gorgeous with violins, angels, gold music notes, twinkly ornaments and ribbon.  On a table next to the tree they placed a Book of Mormon with Georgia's testimony in it.  Since my parents were still in Brazil serving a mission for our church, my husband and I went together and relayed over the phone how beautiful it was, knowing someone would buy it and they would never see it.  Once the auctions were over and the trees taken home we got a phone call.  The father of Adam's mission companion in Korea had bought Georgia's tree and was bringing it to my parents' house in Salt Lake City.  Every year the Ashton family sets aside a large sum of money to give or donate or use to help someone.  The tree was his generous and tender gift that year to our family, so every year my parents take out "Georgia's Tree" and assemble it in it's place of honor - right by the front door.  Every Christmas a little bit of Georgia mingles with the festivities and quiet moments, thanks to our cousins, the Sonkens, and of course the Ashton family.