A Perfect Day

Picture this:  Snow falling, fire glowing, kids reading (or playing outside in the snow), Christmas music playing and no errands to run.  That was the very infrequent scene in our house last Saturday!

Not to mention, the first gift showed up under the tree.

That's enough to break any mother's heart. 

 A perfect day, indeed.

Good 'Ol Ed

The Ideal:  Drive 30 minutes to a fabulous tree farm where we are overwhelmed by the selection of beautiful Christmas trees and the smell of pine.  Be pulled by horses in a sleigh until we get to the said selection of trees at the farm.  Wander through the field of trees until we find the Perfect One.  Cut down the Perfect One with a hand saw and load it into the sleigh to be drawn back to the car.  Drink hot chocolate and visit with the live reindeer.  Load tree onto the van and drive home.  Spend the remainder of the day decorating our tree while discussing what a romantic experience it was for our family and how we can't wait to do it again next year.

Our "horse-drawn" sleigh

Searching, Searching, Searching

"This must be the Perfect One, Mommy, it's just my size!"

Tired of searching

The Reality:  Drive 30 minutes to an OK tree farm overcrowded with cars and people looking for the romantic experience of cutting down their own tree.  Find a sled in which Trevor pulls two cold, whiny girls to the trees while listening to the boys complain and question why they don't get to ride.  Wander through the trees looking, looking, looking for the Perfect One.  Find some trees that are OK and would probably work, but find out they aren't for sale.  Wander around some more hoping we might find a Decent One.  Check the price of a 3 1/2 foot tree.  $50.  Look at one another and decide in unison, "Ed's!"  Drive to our old stand-by, Ed's Feed and Seed, where we immediately spot 83 Perfect One's.  Decide on the 9-footer that Hannah declares, "wants to go home with us".  Have the tree loaded on the car, pay the guy 75 bucks and drive home happy knowing that next year we'll head straight to Ed's.

See you next year!

'Tis the Season

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