O Christmas Tree!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, our family loaded up into a zipcar and headed north to find the perfect Christmas tree. I had looked around at different farms and settled on the one that offered a free breakfast--of course. Two hours later in beautiful Duchess County we arrived at Bilmar Nurseries. We were welcomed into the warm Christmas Shop and greeted by the friendly dog who begged for a bite of our breakfast--which included huge waffles and OJ. Then we climbed into the hay wagon for a ride to the tree fields. I'm kicking myself that I didn't take pictures of any of the previous details--especially the 3 old fashioned fire engines that also carried people to the fields. One was dalmation patterned. So fun.

But at least I did get pictures of our family picking out our first tree and cutting it down. At first, Keahi was dead set on one particular tree at the bottom of the hill. He even tried to guard it from poachers while Iz headed up the hill to look for more possibilities. He cried out to us as we ventured farther into the field, "Stop! Someone might take my tree! Or you'll forget where it is!" But with some coaxing we gave him a choice between 2 more suitable ones and he picked this beauty. A lush, healthy 7 footer of a perfect specimen. He even got to help cut it down and the boys tried to help drag it back to the wagon. It survived being dragged and tied to our car (being driven at about 90mph or so) and into our apartment unscathed. We even found a bird's nest nestled in the branches. Presto! Instant table centerpiece.



Since we spent so much on the tree itself (mostly it was the rental car cost), we had to go cheap on decorations. So paper ornaments--including the star made of wrapping paper, 1 box of silver balls, and popcorn/cranberry strings which Keahi helped make and Jarom helped eat off the tree completed our first real tree. I think it and our suji wire mantle for the stockings turned out pretty well. I'm definitely feeling the holiday spirit.