♪ [o christmas tree] >> doesn't the tree look wonderful? thank you, once again, for coming this evening for joining the california delegation, the forest service, the army band to light of the united states capitol christmas tree.

good night and merry christmas to everyone. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> the white house recently opened its doors for a core of the holiday decorations. the theme is shine, give, share. >> enjoy your visit here today. dining room a spectacular, but there are a lot of beautiful rooms. it is all done very very well.

>> those are historical cards. >> the senator's office contacted the white house. >> december 11. >> ok, great.

♪ ♪

>> we had a hand in every room.

>> the house is made of gingerbread on the inside, that is the foundation, and chocolate on the outside. it is architecturally accurate, but to scale. it weighs about 400 pounds, and it takes about two months to make perry -- to make. we moved it up here monday morning. it since then, we at the forest around it. those trees next to the white house are macaroons with maple, and flour, and the shorter ones are shaped into fruit. everything and the room is a double, except for the electrical parts, yes. -- everything in the room is edible, except for the

electrical parts, yes. we set this aside for this production. we start sometime in october, we start to pour the chocolate walls and sculpt and car of the outside of the house, and that is something that finally builds into a lot of work this past week when everybody comes together and works on different parts of it. it is not only a pastry shop effort, almost all of the department's work together in some way to work on the decorations in the house. we had some carpenters, engineers, plumbers, and electricians, everybody taking part. >> does anybody eat it? >> we hope not. it is really for decoration.

♪ ♪ >> also at the white house, first lady michelle obama welcome to military families. she was joined by white house chefs and florists to demonstrated holiday crafts. but the theme of the blue room christmas tree is an honor of blue star families to have members of the military serving in wartime. these remarks are about 10 minutes. [applause]

>> good afternoon. my name is jennifer jackson, from the great state of kansas, and i am a gold star mother. but it has been an honor to have been part of preparing for this holiday season this holiday home. is a season filled with family time and wonderful memories. this year has been particularly meaningful to members of the u.s. military and their families. in april, mrs. obama and dr. jill biden announced the joining forces campaign in which they urged all americans to not only say thank you, but to mobilize, take action, and make a real commitment to supporting military families. the first lady and by the members of the military families to participate in this year's

white house decorating event. blue and gold star families were united and a common cause as they prepared their individual trees with love. we celebrated, we cried, we remembered, and pledged renewed spirits. thank you for allowing us to be part of this vision. the future of our nation is bright. that shows in the brilliant focus of the design, the beautiful smiles of these children, god's greatest gifts. it is my distinct honor, privilege, and pleasure to introduce the first lady of the united states of america, michelle obama. [applause] >> hi. how is everyone doing?

are you excited? are you ready for christmas? oh. where are malia and sasha? it is great to have the wall here, and your families as well. good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the white house, as we kick off holiday season. oh, yes, here is a little one, come on up. come on up. this is one of my favorite times of the year, and i am so glad to share it with all of you. i want to start by thanking jennifer for that lovely introduction, but more importantly, for all that you and your families have done for our country. military families like yours, jennifer, at all of the ones who are here today truly represent

but what is best about america. and that is something i have seen again and again as i have travelled across the country over the past few years. i have spoken with so many military spouses who are raising their kids alone while their loved one is stationed overseas for months at a time. i have heard from somebody wonderful military children who pickup extra chores and just step up and keep their grades going while mom or dad is a way, and i have been inspired by the survivors of our fallen to keep giving back to the community day after day. but i also know that not every american here's the stories. not every american knows what a blue star family is or a gold star family is. we don't all understand what it is like to be in a military

family. and that is one of the reasons why jill and i started the joining forces initiative, because we wanted to rally all americans to honor, recognize, and support our military families. we wanted to make sure that never again would somebody have to ask the question, what is a gold star family and what does that surprise mean. we all should know. and it is also why we are using the holiday season at the white house to highlight our troops and our veterans and all of their families through this year's theme, which is share, diaz, shine. that is the theme, share, give, shine. that was a big secret, even to our volunteers, got it? through the house we found ways to pay tribute to folks like all of you. the first is in the east landing, when you first come in as a visitor. as the visitors enter, it will

have the opportunity to stand -- send it and written notes to our troops stationed all over the world. they will also see the cold start tree, which jennifer and several other families helped to create, which honors our nation's gold star families, whose loved ones have made the greatest of sacrifices for our country. the tree is decorated with beautiful, special ornaments, each of which has a space for gold star families who visit to write their loved one's name and to hang it on the tree. we are also surrounded, the tree, with photos that you will see, and stories from more than 800 gold star families. each one showcases the strength and resilience that characterizes our gold star families. they are heartfelt notes, like

this from a life in east peoria, illinois. she wrote about her husband, saying, and these are her words, "he never thought of himself as a hero, but he always was to me. it is still hard to know that he is gone. he was my soul mate." or simple messages like this from a mother in anchorage, alaska, who wrote, "i love you and miss you, son. thank you for all of the great memories that we shared." and we are also honoring military families like all of you in the blue room, the big tree, where we decorated the official white house christmas tree with cards that were collected from some of our country's military kids. so the tree is decorated by kids. it is very cool. the notes are a lot of fun, as well, and you could read them as you go through. some of them are inspiring, like

the five children in medical like washington, who wrote, "a matter how many christmases are dad mrs., -- the matter how many christmases are bad misses, he makes every christmas special." and there are others that are matter-of-fact, but this from a boy from el paso, texas, who wrote, "hey, dad, it is cool you are in italy. what are you coming back? because ira know what i want for christmas -- because i already know what i want for christmas." we also have a traditional holiday favorites. we have 37 christmas trees here at the white house. 37! that is a lot, right? yeah, a lot of trees. we also have a 400-pound white house and gingerbread house.

mmm, 400 pounds. and also in several of the rooms, and this is something that you have to look for, we station to the most famous member of the obama family. it was that? bo. so it is sort of day "where's bo? he is hidden everywhere. in one room, he is 4.5 feet tall and he is made of felt. euna that soft material? and in another room he is 9.5 inches tall and he is made of buttons. so you have to look for him. trust me, our dog has been a little confused walking around the house the past couple weeks, seeing himself in gigantic former. . form. those are just a few of this year's highlights, and i am so

excited. the wall are the first of roughly 85,000 people -- you all are part of the first 85,000 people who will see the white house this christmas season, and you are the first! yay! [applause] this will be such a wonderful memory for some many people, and that is why it is so special for us. and none of it could have happened without the nearly 100 volunteers that we have had helping of the past few days. there are hundreds of people who come from all of the country to just decorate the white house, people like jennifer and some of the family members here. i want to finish with another round of thank yous. i want to thank all of the volunteers who helped make this house so beautiful, to all of the artists who put their creativity and to use in decorating the trees and

figuring out what colors we would use, to all of the organizers, and everybody else who has made this house so beautiful and turn our simple ideas into reality. i want to thank all of the gold star families or your enduring strength and commitment to this country, and i want to thank all of the troops, all of our veterans, all of our military families, whose service and sacrifice inspires us all. so thank you. thank you, thank you, we cannot say it enough, thank you. i know this holiday season will be tough for some of you, but hopefully it is times like this that make you know that you live in a grateful nation, and we are just so inspired by your sacrifices. and hopefully this is a memory that will stay with you every holiday season.

so with that, it is time for us -- are you ready to do some work? all right, i have a little surprise. parents, stacey did. you want to come with me? we're going into another room where we have some surprises. it could be cookies, i don't know. i don't know, we will see. is.n't know what it are you ready? you guys, grown-ups, stay seated. we will give you something to occupy your time. are you ready? all right, everybody follow me. little ones, if you want your mommy, out what mommies can come, too, for the little ones. thank you all so much. >> ladies and gentlemen, please stay in your seat while the first lady and her special best part. thank you. i-- while the first lady and her special guest dt.