Little Full, Lotta Sap

Today might have been the most fun we've had as a family in awhile. (note: the kids might disagree). It was time for a Christmas tree so we decided to skip church and go Christmas tree hunting. Where did we hunt for this tree?

Well in our own backyard of course! Leslie told me to title this "Going Local" or something, which would be just as fitting. I chose, however, a quote from Chevy Chase's "Christmas Vacation" because that was more how our day went.

Bundled up the kids,



drove the car back into the woods a bit then hiked the rest of the way up to where the soccer fields usually are (my bootcampers will remember this long jaunt from my boot camp class). We got up there and I spotted a "Christmas" tree right away. We still felt we owed it to the kids to find the best one so Zach and Tariku went on a hike deeper in the woods to be sure.



This is what the other two and myself did:

(She thought she was stuck)






Nothing better in the short time they were away so we went back to the first one we saw (or rather, the only one we saw). And declared it ours. Zach commenced to cutting down with the weakest saw Camp has (we found out once we started cutting).

Trysten was excited about being old enough to hold the saw:



Zach cutting



The boys soon went to "help", Doozie opted to stay in my arms.





Then we remembered that we had to drag the tree to the car. So I got the 2 cameras and Doozie, Zach got the tree. Next year we might strap the tree to Aristotle (the dog) and let him drag it to the car.



By this time Dailah was saying it was "coldie, coldie" approximately every 30 seconds which was cute to begin with and then became something else altogether. The boys didn't listen to our sage advice when telling them not to stick their gloved hands in snow or their hands would get cold. After threatening his fingers were falling off, Tariku sprinted down to the car.

When he saw I kept slipping with my fake Ugg boots and various things in arms and hands he said, "Here mommy, hold my hand, I'll hold you up." Though sweet, it was totally unrealistic and I knew he'd come down too and probably scream the loudest should the worst happen.

But we made it! Lips were blue, cheeks were red but the car was warm(er). Zach threw the tree on the car and we were off the 300 meters to the house. The tree rolled off once but Zach just threw it back on top and we were good to go. Look how happy they all were!



Zach and the boys stayed out to cut down the tree a bit more and Doozie and I went in to make some hot cocoa. When we were in she kept saying "better" as it was much better in there. But she looks cute warm or cold. See?



The boys soon got too cold as well and left daddy to fend for himself with the tree from the wild. We soon settled down with hot cocoa as the kids wrote their lists to Santa Clause.



After which we ate some not-so-local food (unless the Kraft Mac and Cheese is made here, which I would be thrilled about). After bellies were full and no more threats were being made of frostbite, we tackled the decorating of the tree. Zach and I had a personal laugh about the look of the tree. It's very rugged, lots of personality. Trysten named it "mohawk" and I think that's perfect. This is what I saw when Zach told me to come upstairs to see it.



Decided to give it some beautifying before we made any snap judgements. The kids had a great time decorating and Trysten even asked where the Christmas music was when I hadn't turned it on right away (a boy right after his mommy's heart). I personally liked how ALL the ornaments were on the bottom 1/3 of the tree, right where we knew Abe (other dog) would sniff at them and fall.

The tree is not quite sturdy so the ornaments were prone to fall off easily. Here are a few of my favorites. This one is from Zach's now-deceased grandma. It has her picture in it so Trysten put it on the bottom so it could rest easy.



This one is from Zach and my first Christmas as a married couple. We went and bought 2 ornaments. Spent a good time trying to pick ones that would be sentimental and this is what Zach picks. The guy isn't even a fisher, but he thought he was funny. Unfortunately, I agreed he was and this now decorates our trees forevermore.



My grandma makes ornaments for us every year. If not for her, we'd have NOTHING and I personally LOVE getting them out every year to see our names on them. They are my true favorites. Here is one of my faves, a little angel.



Then it was time for Zach to put the angel on top of the tree. Since the tree was so big, it actually bent at the top. So the angel is instead on the 2nd tier (ish). Good laughs again.



Finally finished, and without a doubt, this tree is my favorite as a family and might be the most memorable for all time.



In fact, we were all so exhausted that we put Dailah in her bed to sleep. About 20 minutes later Zach went downstairs when he heard something and found Dailah had went out of her room in the hallway and couldn't go a single step more. She fell asleep there.



Hope your day was filled with as much good old fashioned family Christmas as ours!