Trimming the Tree 2014

Some years we buy a Christmas tree from a local store and some years we decide to make the trek up into the mountains to chop down our own tree. This year with no baby on the way, no baby to carry, and no surgery to be had, we opted for the fun family day in the mountains. And we were so happy that we did, because we had such a fun day! 

The weather was great. It was in the low 50's and the sun was shining for most of the morning. The kids think it is so fun to find "the perfect tree", even though their Mommy is still not sold on the scraggly look of a true Colorado tree. The trees we chop down are sparse and scrawny and don't have the strongest branches. They also don't really have a smell, believe it or not. But they are super fresh and truly unique. And they are growing on me…slowly. One other reason why I really love them is because they are only $10. A steal compared to the $50 plus dollars you'll spend at Home Depot or Costco. And for just $10 we have 12 and a half feet of piney wonder standing in our family room. (made even more amazing by Scentcicles- Christmas Tree scent) 

Saturday morning we stopped at Starbucks and then met up with Bruce, Barb, Brad, Jayne, and the boys at 9 a.m. and caravanned up. (Cara, Wes, and fam decided to take the year off.) We wound around on dirt roads until we found just the right spot to start our hunt. Mark and Brad and the boys took off in one direction while Bruce and Barb headed in another. Jayne was feeding Ezra in their car and I was on Brooks duty…slowly wandering in the woods with a 2 year old. 

Nolan of course went right for the sticks. A weapon and play fighting happen with this kid any time he can. Any time that is in his words, "appropriate". At least he can turn off his super ninja fighting skills when he has to. Ha! 

Brooks tried to keep up, but just couldn't, so we carried him from time to time. Too many big sticks and logs and brush to hike through for him. 

So he and I stopped a time or two and just hung out. 

I got some super cute pics of him! 

His eye color is something else! It goes from black to brown to green to blue to grey. They are the best! 

The boys hiked a ways and we eventually caught up when they thought they had spotted the "perfect tree". Once the tree was found they decided to climb rocks and play animals exploring the forest. 

Arie rode on Brad's shoulders but did a great job hiking around as well! He loves to keep up with the big boys! 

Watching Daddy chop down our tree! It was tall and not too wide at the base and actually a pretty good shape- although sparse- no holes. 

Proud of our find! 

Could these pics be any cuter?

Brad found their tree pretty close to ours. His was even taller than ours. 

Holding the tree on their own. 

Hiking back to our cars. 

When we got back to the cars, we snacked and the boys ran around and hung out until Oma and Opa came back. Jayne and Ezra had met up with them too. Here are the guys with their trees!  

Strapping it to the top of our car. 

Nolan took off his boots and was running around in his socks. Whatever you want dude. It was a fun little tailgate. Donuts, crackers and cheese, sandwiches, snacks, cocoa, apple cider, and happy boys!

Those happy boys were tired out from a morning of hiking in the mountains. They all fell asleep on the way home.

Mommy was tired too, so we stopped for our traditional Big Gulp on the way home! 

When we got home we got out all the Christmas tubs from the basement and started decorating the house while Daddy strung the lights on the tree. It takes a L-O-N-G time to put lights on these Colorado trees because you can't just wind the strands around in circles. You have to go up and down each branch individually and then go around the trunk of the tree and up to the next round. It takes a lot of strands and a lot of patience as well. That's why it's Mark's job. I can deal with 21, 5 year olds- no problem. Give me tedious work like this and I just wanna quit! Ha! 

The boys broke out their Nativity Scenes (thanks Grandma!) and kept busy for hours. They were playing with their scenes and helping me decorate and setting things up around the house and were having the best time. They stopped to calm down and watch their Charlie Brown Christmas DVD for a bit as well. 

We bought them these 2 foot trees at Target the day before Thanksgiving. They were on sale for $10 and we thought they would be fun for the boys to pick out some of their special or favorite ornaments to decorate them with. They could keep them in their bedrooma as little night lights and a festive decoration for their rooms as well. 

They were so excited! 

They loved picking just the right ornaments for them. 

How does Nolan look 10 in this picture? My sweet boy is growing up too fast! 

Nolan wanted me to be sure to get a picture of this side of his tree as well. I like how he popped his head out to the side of the tree for the pic. 

Heath picked out the ornaments for the tree that he shares with Brooks. 

Brooks was showing Heath where to hang the ornaments. 

So proud! 

When we were done decorating their small trees, it was time to start our big one! 

They were so independent and did a great job finding just the right spot for each ornament. They knew to hang heavier ornaments closer to the trunk. 

We had Christmas music playing and they instantly became silly dancing machines again. I really think Tyler's wedding sparked some crazy dancing flame inside of them. They have the best time dancing these days and it is so fun to watch! 

Heath, specifically, likes his "slap the booty" move. Oh boy! Just hope he doesn't do that move at school! Ha! 

The tree was so high that we had to bust out the ladder to do the top half of the tree. 

Heath would have loved to hang out on the ladder all night long. 

Brooks wanted nothing to do with hanging the ornaments on the tree, but he definitely LOVES our tree. He loves his little tree too and plugs it in every night. He points out all of his favorite ornaments and talks about Santa constantly. He loves turning on the outside lights and finding "Eckabee" (our Elf on the Shelf) each morning. It is so fun to see him so interested and excited by Christmas this year! 

This is our 3rd Christmas in our new house and it's the 3rd location for our Christmas tree, but we think that we finally found the perfect spot. Our family room has the highest ceilings so we can get a super tall tree. And it's nice to be able to sit on our couch to watch T.V. at night and be able to look over at the tree. In past years we've had it in our living room, which it could be seen outside through the front window, which was pretty, but we don't often just sit in our living room. So we are happy to feel like we will really enjoy our tree this season as we focus on God's promise, our Savior.