Family Traditions

The day after Thanksgiving is a big day! Not Black Friday -- we don't do that. Rather it is Christmas Tree cutting day. One amazing thing we've discovered up here is that there are farms everywhere and you can get fresh almostanything. This includes Christmas Trees. So today we went to a tree farm and picked out our tree.

The tree before it was cut

We are learning more about trees each year. This year we selected a Grand variety. We usually get Douglas trees but thought we'd branch out (branch out....heehee...) and try a different variety. The kids loved tromping around the tree farm selecting this tree then that one as the perfect Pyatt Family tree. Once the decision was made Roy started sawing. About 1/3 of the way through he was asking himself why this was a fun family tradition. Much like he does every year : )

Giving Daddy a thumbs-up

One great feature we always appreciate is having our tree shake and baled. They set the tree on a little machine that shakes all the loose needles and squirrels out. Then they pull the tree through a net that bundles the tree up making it soooo much easier to transport and set up. This year our tree was too fat. It refused to be baled. Believe me, we tried. Well, mostly I stood back and took pictures of Roy trying to push and the farm owner trying to pull the tree while the owner's wife and son and D tried to hold the table down. After a few minutes of this the owner offered us a discount to not have our tree baled.

Shaking... (no squirrels)

It was futile. That tree was NOT going through the baler.

We got the tree home with only minimal worry and no problems. When we got the tree in, A was very concerned. No, she was scared of it. Apparently trees are fine and great in the outdoors but should not be brought inside. She is such a funny little body. However, by the time we had it standing up and mostly stable she had come around to our way of thinking and was laughing and squatting down to check out daddy under the tree.

Cum'on it don't get much cooler than that!

We also got a small tree to put downstairs in the toy room. The kids always get excited to have their own tree. Last year it was a little scraggly Charlie Brown thing. This year we got an actual tree that happens to be small.