We always try to find the biggest and most beautiful tree for the official White House Christmas tree. This year's Fraser fir is eighteen feet tall! We had to move the chandelier in the Blue Room just to make room. The tree was presented by Jim and Diane Chapman and their children, Daniel, David, Julia, Laura, and Rachel, of Silent Night Evergreens in Wisconsin.

Like many families, we decorate our tree with ornaments passed down by our parents and grandparents. These ornaments, first used by Barbara Bush in 1989, are on loan from the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University. Look closely and you will find Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood, and "Some Pig", Wilbur from Charlotte's Web. Under the tree, Santa has delivered piles of books because he knows that a good book is the perfect gift for readers of all ages.