Christmas Tree Hunting

Come on Daddy...move it...move it...move it!

I just love my antlers!

Yesterday as I watched Lily "help" Tony push the hand cart through the fields at the Christmas tree farm it hit me...Lily is home for Christmas!! Home...with us...with her family...where she is meant to be...and I started to cry. Honestly, I was weepy the rest of the day. Of course, they were happy tears...it's just that in some ways I still can't believe that we are a family of three and that we were out together doing one of my favorite Christmas traditions!

Daddy, why'd you pick me up? I was having fun running around!

Christmas tree hunting has always been one of my favorite traditions. No artificial tree or tree from some lot for me. No way!

Since I was a little girl I've loved going out in search of the perfect tree. When I was growing up we went Christmas tree hunting with families in our neighborhood. Sometimes it would take all day for everyone to find the right tree. You know how it is...everyone's idea of the perfect tree is not the same. Some families would want short needle, others long, some would want tall and skinny, others wanted short and round...and the hunt would continue. A bunch of us kids would pile in the back of my Dad's truck and we would sing Christmas Carols and goof around and have so much fun as we went from tree farm to tree farm. At times we'd complain about the cold and how long the hunt was taking...but it was always a really great day.

Daddy's laying down on the job.

For my family, once the hunt got narrowed down to two or three trees Dad would have one of us kids stand next to each tree while he and Mom would walk back and forth trying to decide which one to cut down. I was always afraid they wouldn't be able to find me again! After all, sometimes Patti, Pam, and I would mark our favorite trees by leaving a mitten or glove on top of the tree as a way of flagging it as one of our favorites. Then in the maze that is a Christmas tree farm we could never find our way back to that particular tree and the mitten or glove would be lost for good! What if that had happened to me, too??

I think this one is just perfect!

After all the neighbors found their trees we would all pile into our cars (there wasn't any room in the back of Dad's truck for us kids anymore since it was now stuffed full of Christmas trees!) and go out for lunch or dinner. Christmas tree hunting was always a long, cold day and when we got home we were exhausted...but happy and ready for some hot chocolate and cookies!

I can't decide which tree I like best. Can we just bring them all home, Mommy?

Our hunt for the perfect tree was actually relatively short compared to my childhood memories. The weather was mild and the fields were muddy but we had so much fun. We found the perfect Douglas Fir, Tony played lumberjack, we stopped for lunch, and Lily took her nap on the car ride home. I can't believe that this was just the first of many, many Christmas tree hunts we will go on as a family!

Yum, I love this queso.

I can eat cheese...and say "Cheese" at the same time!