the tree

I am a tad tardy posting some pics of things we have done this holiday season...well, it isn't much considering I spent last week doing nothing...but, we did manage to cut our tree down again this year...It is a tradition we started when Bob and I first got married, tried to do it after Lindsey was born but found out she was allergic to it...oh yeah, cut the tree down, decorated it, lived with it for a week or two only to discover that the constant runny nose she had only seemed to happen while she was in the house...took the tree down, runny nose disappeared, went online, bought a 9 foot fake tree, that we have used up until last year
when we decided to try a real one again. We were successful in cutting down the most gorgeous full, ten foot tree that we only paid $45 for and figured it was worth it even if she ended up allergic...well, lo an behold she was fine as was Kyle...so this year we did the same. We went to a different tree farm because we thought our other one was kaput as a result of selling out to developers (we later found out they are still there)...We set out later in the day one Saturday afternoon, saw car after car driving down the highway with trees strapped to their roofs. Bob commented "oh there probably won't be very many people cutting down trees today." In my mind, I am thinking "he's nuts"...we have seen car after car with trees and it was the week after Thanksgiving...oh we won't be the only ones doing this." So we pull up to this tree farm in Snickers Gap....and the sight was breathtaking...there were thousands of gorgeous full Christmas trees...the only problem is that there were that many people there cutting them down and waiting in line as well. We thought we would roll in, chop chop, pay and leave...uh no...I, of course, wanted a tree over 9 ft...hard to find...especially in a farm that big...so I had to find the tallest one I could and that meant lots of walking...it was freezing, we were underdressed, but we did find a great tree, chopped it down, dragged it up a hill, (well, Bob did ;) and proceeded to wait in a line with about 75 people in front of us...the sun was going down, we were popsicles, but the kids were fantastic...it took about 45 minutes to get through the line and out of there...we were fine and had a great time, nonetheless...next year, we are going earlier in the day and bundling up!

Breathtaking view of only PART of the tree farm...the panorama was exquisite...


The kids in front of the tree we found...which is 8.5 feet....



Chop Chop...



Dragging it uphill to pay for it...I know, it made no sense...checkout should have been at the bottom of the hill....


Final product...not completely decorated, but good enough for now....