One of my fondest memories of the holidays from when I was a child was going Christmas tree hunting. I say hunting because we never went to a tree lot, we went out to a tree farm to "hunt" together for the perfect tree. My brother and I would stomp through the mud with my parents, up the hill, down the hill, around the hill and over the hill searching and searching for a tree we could all agree on. Once we found "our" tree, my dad would lay down a tarp under the tree and get his hand saw ready. With much grumbling and groaning from him, eventually the tree would start to shake and tip and finally fall over, much to the delight of my brother and I. My parents would haul the tree down to the car and while they messed with ropes and bungee cords, us kids would sit in the car drinking hot chocolate, freshly changed from our muddy wet clothes into clean socks and sweatpants. I think I remember the dry clothes and hot chocolate more fondly than anything...it felt so good to get warmed up!
Our Christmas tree hunting ritual has changed over the years, though not as much as you would expect. I take my family to the same Christmas tree farm that I went to growing up. We hike and stomp up, down, around and over the hills, searching for the perfect tree. When the perfect tree has been found, Matthew doesn't have to grumble and groan on a dirty tarp under the tree because nowadays they come around with chainsaws to cut the tree down for you! They also take it to a baling and shaking station, and then tie it onto your car for you. These are pretty customer friendly changes that they have made, although I think we would still go there even if we had to do it "the hard way". Its just a really great family farm, and it does have a special place in my heart. After we pay for the tree, we drive down to the gift shop. They have goats and a donkey to feed, free hot chocolate, and a huge wood stove to get warmed up next to. Our family has also made it a tradition to each pick out one or two ornaments from the gift area to add to our collection. The kids really enjoy searching for the perfect ornament. This year they both chose little ceramic birds, and snowmen on ice cream cones. Not very Christmasy, but better than the hunting snowman complete with rifle and checkered hat that Matthew had his eye on!
I was really sick when we went to get our tree this year, suffering from a nasty head cold that had me so stuffed up that my right eye was swollen halfway shut. I was pretty miserable, so I didn't take many pictures, but here are a few of our day.
The perfect tree, in all its natural glory:
After our helper cut it down, he offered to take a picture of us all together with our tree. Everyone is so nice and helpful at this place, it really makes for a great experience.
There is this old oak tree smack in the middle of the tree farm. I thought it looked so pretty up against the blue sky. Killian is under it, near the trunk, to give some perspective on the massive size of the tree:
We weren't able to decorate the tree that night because we had plans with friends, so early the next morning we got started on it. We turned on the Christmas music and Matthew and I strung up the lights while the kids sorted out the ornaments. After everything was hung up, King Killian donned his red robe (aka the tree skirt) and ceremoniously topped our tree with its silver star.
The finished tree!
Our Christmas tree hunting ritual has changed over the years, though not as much as you would expect. I take my family to the same Christmas tree farm that I went to growing up. We hike and stomp up, down, around and over the hills, searching for the perfect tree. When the perfect tree has been found, Matthew doesn't have to grumble and groan on a dirty tarp under the tree because nowadays they come around with chainsaws to cut the tree down for you! They also take it to a baling and shaking station, and then tie it onto your car for you. These are pretty customer friendly changes that they have made, although I think we would still go there even if we had to do it "the hard way". Its just a really great family farm, and it does have a special place in my heart. After we pay for the tree, we drive down to the gift shop. They have goats and a donkey to feed, free hot chocolate, and a huge wood stove to get warmed up next to. Our family has also made it a tradition to each pick out one or two ornaments from the gift area to add to our collection. The kids really enjoy searching for the perfect ornament. This year they both chose little ceramic birds, and snowmen on ice cream cones. Not very Christmasy, but better than the hunting snowman complete with rifle and checkered hat that Matthew had his eye on!
I was really sick when we went to get our tree this year, suffering from a nasty head cold that had me so stuffed up that my right eye was swollen halfway shut. I was pretty miserable, so I didn't take many pictures, but here are a few of our day.
The perfect tree, in all its natural glory:
After our helper cut it down, he offered to take a picture of us all together with our tree. Everyone is so nice and helpful at this place, it really makes for a great experience.
There is this old oak tree smack in the middle of the tree farm. I thought it looked so pretty up against the blue sky. Killian is under it, near the trunk, to give some perspective on the massive size of the tree:
We weren't able to decorate the tree that night because we had plans with friends, so early the next morning we got started on it. We turned on the Christmas music and Matthew and I strung up the lights while the kids sorted out the ornaments. After everything was hung up, King Killian donned his red robe (aka the tree skirt) and ceremoniously topped our tree with its silver star.
The finished tree!
