First Annual Hudiburgh Christmas Tree Hunt

We've been busy/not busy since Thanksgiving. By that I mean, I feel like we have been on the go, but at different paces. We are lucky enough to be able to see both our families during the holidays, which is exactly what we did on Thanksgiving. Jeff, against my will, decided to do some black Friday shopping on Thursday. Why is it even called black Friday if stores are opening Thursday night? How selfish of consumers to steal workers away from their families on Thanksgiving.  He managed to get us out with him on Friday, which in hindsight was some successful Christmas shopping. But what we were both really looking forward to was our First Annual Hudiburgh Christmas Tree Hunt.
We woke up bright and early on Sunday, made sandwiches, filled a thermos full of soup, drank down a pot of coffee and bundled up for our adventure. An hour and a half later, Brody was as happy as can be, and we hadn't even started looking for a tree.

family always includes Remi!

I think he was just glad to be out of the car seat

love my boys

He's just all smiles

After getting out and stretching our legs it was time to search. I may have imagined the adventure a little different. Like, I didn't know that Christmas Tree Farms shape the trees as they grow. I had to tweak my image of a perfect tree. I also failed to check the forecast, and was not expecting the rain that decided to fall the minute we got up into the mountains. Tree hunting with a constant rain/snow mix falling on you, makes it easy to think you have found the perfect tree. Our hurry to get out of the rain may have warped our vision. In the end though, I think we did alright. 

In our hurry to get out the door I didn't even grab a coat, thank God Jeff is ALWAYS prepared

He is a man on a mission

One of Jeff's little surprises on our trip was that he intended to hunt in hopes of harvesting a deer on the last day of hunting season. I mean, he had been talking about hunting all week but I thought I had swayed his decision on hunting deer while trying to hunt trees. Unfortunately for Jeff, hunting is nearly impossible when you have not only a yappy  dog along for the ride but a little boy who is all to happy to "accidentally" blare the car horn. Jeff's attempt at sneaking up on some deer failed miserably. Entertaining a 15 month old in the vehicle only lasts so long. We chowed down on a pumpkin muffin, Brody finished off the OJ and crawled from front to back to back to front. He lost boots, mittens and patience. 

Running out of ways to distract him, we decided it was time he took the wheel. Seriously. He loved it! It was so fun doing something with our son that we both remember doing with our own fathers. 

eyes on the road!

We were hoping to get home early enough to get our tree up that night, but as per usual, that didn't happen. And it didn't happen the night after that either. In fact it took us a whole week to get our tree up and decorated. It was worth the wait though. 

Much to our dismay we don't have a real fireplace, but on a whim 4 years ago,  Jeff and I bought this DVD! Well worth the $9

If dad can climb on the chair so can I

I'd like to say it was the most wonderful evening full of family, laughter, and cheer. Realistically, trying to decorate a tree with Brody was a nightmare. I'd get a string of lights up and he'd be right behind me ready to rip them off the tree. We'd test a new strand to make sure they work and he'd be running off with the lights trailing behind him. The ornaments you ask….gah, shaking, throwing, tasting! We got the money shot and put him to bed. At the rate we were going it would've taken all night to get the tree decorated. But the look on his face in the morning, when the tree was complete, it was pretty priceless. Nothing can mimic the true awe in a childs' eyes. Has he been tempted since to terrorize the tree? You bet. He's already broken an ornament. Once he heard "no touching" enough he wizened up and figured out that if he brushes the branches with his head he isn't "touching" the tree. The mischievous smile he showered me with was priceless. I couldn't help but laugh. He really thinks he got one up on me. Makes me love him even more. He's a smarty pants. It makes me excited for years to come. When he really starts to understand what we are doing and the tradition of it all. I'm excited to be able to show him pictures and tell him "even when you were one you helped with the tree". I think you go through a phase where decorating for Christmas kind of loses its magic. I can tell you that having Brody and sharing all of these new traditions with him has brought the magic back tenfold! It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...