Cutting The Christmas Tree:
My Favorite Holiday Tradition
I have fond memories of picking out our families Christmas Tree as a child. The day after Thanksgiving my whole family would pile into the Suburban and drive into the country to what seemed to me to be acres of perfectly pruned Christmas Trees. I remember how my fathers face and entire body seemed to inspect every tree, demonstrating to my child mind the eminent importance of our choice. The smell of fresh cut pine still takes me back to specific moments of childhood Christmas'. It's a tradition that is important for me to give my children. But in my day these farms were huge and bustling with families. We had to wait in line to have our tree shaken and wrapped in twine. Enter the "fake Christmas tree". Bustling, huge, hay ride farm= Out Of Business. We've had to drive over 2 hours to find a farm the last two years but it's been worth it. It still makes me smile and the whimsical shape of a real Christmas Tree is something that I love...and my kids love it too. Joey has gently tried to encourage me to buy the fake tree arguing "sustainability" and "cheaper in the long run" But I argue back with "helping those who would otherwise be out of a job", "family tradition", and "memories". That shut him up! The great job my parents did of almost ritualizing the tradition make it impossible for me to buy a fake tree. But i'll admit, after a spider infestation fell from this years tree branches I've considered giving in. Man that was nasty! But one time in 30 years of real tree experience I would say we're doing pretty well for ourselves! I'm stickin' to my guns!
Here's Georgie, Bitty Baby in tow, racing/hiding through the branches. She could've cared less to help with choosing our tree. We hardly saw her the entire time. But we were the only ones there so, nothing to fear!
Isaac, ready to cut
I caught sight of her again.
and again.
After quite a bit of deliberating, Joey butted out and let Isaac choose;)
(We'll regret it later!)
Baby's First Christmas Tree Shopping...
can they put that on a onesie?
Just a side note...if you have a tall tree in your yard, google search "air Pogo"
This thing was cool!!
Happy with his choice!
There's our beauty...let's hope she doesn't fly off on our three hour trek home!
Remember when I said we'd regret Joey butting out to keep the peace?? Well we had our "National Lampoon" moment when we unleashed her in our front room! WAY to big for our tiny living room!! We had to lop 5 inches off the top just to get the star on and we could forget about having a fire in the fire place! Major safety hazard. Remind me to get a skinny >7ft tall tree next year!
