Jump in the forums and begin to meet people...good luck and welcome

He is GORGEOUS Dan!!!!!! Congrats!!!! And tell him to keep his fingers out of his nose....lol

This is a great place to end up. Jump in the forums and meet people....that is the best chance you have and you will make tons of friends quickly...welcome and have a blast

Welcome to Mingle...jump in the forums and have a blast. That is the best way to get to know everybody. Good luck!

I stripped down an 8 room house and completely remodeled it from the studs in...was a ton of fun and took five years...also a former hod carrier/mason

Indeed...Merry Christmas to All of you

I have 6 grandsons and one granddaughter. Needless to say I would really appreciate another girl. My daughter insists on a boy...hoping my son-in-law is on my side

LOL...that is exactly what my daughter said Thank you

lol...you calling me names Soufie????

Yes it is!!!! Thank you

Thank you

Thank you guys! Nobody knows and they are announcing today during our Christmas dinner...can't wait to see everyone's faces

My daughter and son-in-law have been trying for a year and just found out they are pregnant!!!!!! This will be their first child...my eighth grandchild!!!!!!

I looked it up and this is what I found....

Mid-Victorian Tree

In 1850's Lauscha began to produce fancy shaped glass bead garlands for the trees, and short garlands made from necklace 'bugles' and beads. These were readily available in Germany but not produced in sufficient quantities to export to Britain. The Rauschgoldengel was a common sight. Literally, 'Tingled-angel', bought from the Thuringian Christmas markets, and dressed in pure gilded tin.

The 1860's English Tree had become more innovative than the delicate trees of earlier decades. Small toys were popularly hung on the branches, but still most gifts were placed on the table under the tree.

Around this time, the Christmas tree was spreading into other parts of Europe. The Mediterranean countries were not too interested in the tree, preferring to display only a Creche scene. Italy had a wooden triangle platform tree called as 'CEPPO'. This had a Creche scene as well as decorations.

The German tree was beginning to suffer from mass destruction! It had become the fashion to lop off the tip off a large tree to use as a Christmas Tree, which prevented the tree from growing further. Statutes were made to prevent people having more than one tree.

Just as the first trees introduced into Britain did not immediately take off, the early trees introduced into America by the Hessian soldiers were not recorded in any particular quantity. The Pennsylvanian German settlements had community trees as early as 1747.

America being so large, tended to have 'pockets' of customs relating to the immigrants who had settled in a particular area, and it was not until the communications really got going in the 19th century, that such customs began to spread. Thus references to decorated trees in America before about the middle of the 19th century are very rare.

By the 1870's, Glass ornaments were being imported into Britain from Lauscha, in Thuringia. It became a status symbol to have glass ornaments on the tree, the more one had, the better ones status! Still many home-made things were seen. The Empire was growing, and the popular tree topper was the Nation's Flag, sometimes there were flags of the Empire and flags of the allied countries. Trees got very patriotic.

They were imported into America around 1880, where they were sold through stores such as FW Woolworth. They were quickly followed by American patents for electric lights (1882), and metal hooks for safer hanging of decorations onto the trees (1892)

ummmmmmmmm....no answe r