In recent years it’s become our family tradition to cut a Christmas tree from our own property. This usually involves at least an hour of tromping through the woods, studying every fir tree under 20 feet from all angles. It is too skinny? Is it full enough? Is it too tall? Will it fit if we cut off the bottom half? Hannah invariably identifies the “maybe” trees with some type of mark so we can find it again when we return for a second look. We never manage to find those trees again, so we end up doing a a second hike through the woods. The end of our search usually ends with “Just pick one!”

Today was no different. After an hour of slogging through the woods, slipping on the wet leaves and branches while the drizzle threatened to turn into full rain, we ended up choosing the “maybe” tree closest to home. A little tree as wide as it is tall.

Hannah received the honors of cutting down down the tree. Yes, that’s my Roo’s behind sticking out as she sawed through the tree trunk. She wanted to do this all by herself.

Our Christmas trees are “organic” trees. We don’t plant them or groom them with the holidays in mind. Therefore our trees often look like Charlie Brown’s tree. It’s amazing what a few strings of lights and treasured ornaments can do! Hope you had as much fun searching for your tree as we did ours.

Harvesting a Christmas Tree

Carting the fir tree home

Ready for decorating...

Our decorated Christmas tree!