Through the Woods -

To officially kick off the beginning of December, the three of us decided to trek out to a beautiful Christmas tree farm, about forty minutes away, to choose and cut down our first family Christmas tree! Actually, it's our first real Christmas tree as a married couple. Last year, we weren't allowed to have a real Christmas tree in our apartment. (fire hazard, I suppose) The weather was chilly, and the air smelled delicious--absolutely perfect for Christmas tree hunting!

Once we made it to the farm, we set off in the direction of the fir trees. I was a total novice at this, so I had no idea that certain trees were planted in different places, spread out across the many acres of the farm. They had concolor firs, (some sort of hybrid, which looked pretty in pictures but not-so-much in real life) and douglas firs, which is what we ultimately chose. With 9 foot ceilings, we figured we'd pick out a tree that was roughly 7-8 feet tall, with enough room for a star on top. The one we decided on was perfect all the way around! Perfect height, very healthy looking--we were sold on it, so Ryan cut it down, and carted it back with us to the barn. They picked up our tree and stood it up against a measuring stick, and it measured---are you ready for this???--- 8 1/2 FEET! It definitely did not look that tall out in the field!

It's actually really funny for another reason, too. I'd only ever been Christmas tree hunting once in my life, which is a notorious event in my family. Here we had chosen a cute tree, and it seemed to be the perfect size, only for us to get it home and realize it was roughly 5 feet tall--barely taller than my brother and I. A real-life, Charlie Brown tree. :) But let me tell you, we will always remember that experience because of it!

Brooke was bundled up, and was even sporting her mini Ugg-like winter boots for the first time! (a gift from Trish!) She enjoyed the festive excursion, right up until Ryan was cutting down our tree--then she had had enough! I video recorded the entire thing, which turned out really cute. :) After we got back to the barn, we sipped on free hot apple cider (delicious!) and browsed their little Christmas shop filled with fresh Christmas wreaths and homemade ornaments. We will probably return there next year!

Here are our pictures from our fun outing!


When I saw Snoopy, I knew we HAD to get a picture!

Our super tall tree!

Sweet Brooke--ready to head home :)

Us, with our first Christmas tree!
Well, I made up a new winter layout. (Snow!! In my dreams, right?) With my computer down for the count, I couldn't use the graphic I made last year. For anyone that cares, I found the picture on the stock exchange, (www.sxc.hu) and edited it in photoshop. Voila.

Oh! And to those who wondered about the age difference between my brother and I--we are 18 months apart. (though, I was born 6 weeks premature, so it would've been a tiny bit more) We sound like we're only a year apart when I have a birthday, (in May) until he has another birthday 6 months after mine. I'm sure it wasn't the easiest thing for my Mom when we were really young, but it was nice being so close together in age when we were younger. We had built-in best friends! Interesting fact: Ryan and his older sister have the exact same age difference between them. :)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

¶ 4:23 PM