Christmas Tree!

A local Christmas tree farm offered a tree to some friends of ours who's son is battling cancer. We wanted to support such a generous place, so headed there for our first u-cut Christmas tree adventure.

The weather was cold, but clear, with ice on the ground that crackled beneath our winter boots. We were after a Nordman, a tree we'd heard of because it doesn't release po
llen (for Jeff) and doesn't drop many needles (for me). We wanted a tall one since our tree last year seemed short.

Bayley selected a great one, but on closer inspection it had lots of brown needles on the inside, so we kept looking. Funny, as we picked trees they seemed to get taller every time. Jeff found the perfect one and got to work with the hand saw while the kids played Marco Polo through the maze of trees.

Lucky for them, the tree had a really thick trunk, so they got in lots of play time while Daddy hacked the tree down. They called to us whenever they found something new - frosty spiderwebs, mushrooms, stumps where people had oddly left the bottom two feet of the tree behind.

Once the tree fell, it was up to Daddy and his soon-to-be boy scout to carry it back to the truck. When we thought about a tall tree, we never considered how heavy it would be. They did a great job, save one point where Bayley fell and the tree did a head stand.

The tree got hoisted onto the roof, and the boys got in some play time while Grace opted to warm up in the truck with a graham cracker. They're not usually into having their pictures taken - OK so Bayley hates it - but they were all about posing for some reason.

Once the tree was secured, we all took off our muddy boots and the kiddos ate their grahams on the way home.

We're all excited to decorate the tree tomorrow!