Advent Calendar - The Christmas Tree

Did you have a real tree or was it artificial? How big was the tree? Who decorated the tree? What types of Christmas trees did your ancestors have?

Growing up we always had a real tree. I remember one Christmas we were living in a house with a vaulted ceiling two stories high. My mom made sure we got a tall tree, and at 19 ft. it was. We stood on a ladder to decorate the top. Everyone always participated in decorating the tree; we each had our own special ornaments to hang.
When I was in high school we got an artificial tree. Most of my family has allergies and we has started getting the tree closer and closer to Christmas to avoid the brunt of them. We were after Christmas shopping at Michael's (a craft store) and my mom liked one of the trees they had on display. It turned out to be the only tree they had and it didn't have a box. I think we paid $10 for it; took it apart and stuffed it in the car. I do love our tree. It is 6 ft. tall and very full, with no bad side.