Well, with our conflicting schedules I thought we were going to have to wait until after the first full week in December to get our Christmas tree, but thanks to Tom having a somewhat odd shcedule (but ultimately convenient in this case) we got to go on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. No crowds, and technically still November - Just the way I like it!
We were joined this year by Dave Shipley (you should remember him from the wedding :) I was so excited the night before I had everything ready to go. Cups - check, cocoa - check, oranges - check, wheat thins - check, skittles- check. I was all ready for another perfect traditional family tree hunt.
Well, we got up the morning of and it was POURING rain in Tacoma. We were hoping we would hit snow in the mountains so that we wouldn't have to hike in the rain. Our wish did not come true and we think it would have been a lot easier if it had! The rain caused the snow on the ground to be complete slush and although it was warm so therefore not ice, slush is slippery stuff! While trying to climb up the logging roads we had to bust out the chains for the first time!
So, for the most part, I sat like a comfortable princess in the truck with the heat on while the boys dealt with the chains in the rain- yuck! Both of them had jeans on, and needless to say by the end of it all, they were soaked.
Tom got a chance to be up close and personal with his truck (oh, and Dave did too!)
But in the end the chains were successfully placed and we safely made it to our tree hunting venue.
Before we set out we were in need of a refreshing snack, so some home-made pumpkin bread (with the left over pumpkin puree I made for Thanksgiving) hit the spot! We all grabbed a hunk (who needs a knife?) and began our hunt.
The camera batteries died while up in the woods (I left the extras back at the truck) -but I did manage to snap two photos on our journey. We passed a beautiful winter scene with this free-flowing brook:
And we walked about 1.5 miles to the top of the hill (the perfect spot was "just around the next corner). But we were rewarded with breathtaking winter wonderland views!
We were in the hunt for three trees: one for Dave, one for us and one for John and Diana. And in the end we cam out victorious! Dave's tree was taller than him by a long shot!
And our two trees were gorgeous! And, let's just say that Tom was sure to "edit" my choices before I cut them down so we didn't end up with another over-sized tree that doesn't fit in our living room like last year (it's in our post from last year if you want to refresh you memory :)
After our rainy hike we were ready for some hot cocoa! Since we don't own a thermos I thought I'd be really creative and bring our instant hot water pot and our power converter that plugs into our cigarette lighter But...apparently I should have checked it first because it didn't work! I knew I should have brought the JetBoil!
Oh, well, there's always a drive through coffee stand somewhere in the state of Washington!
So, we made it home safe and began to set up our beautiful tree. Thanks to Santa Tom, it was a quick and easy set up.
I worked up a sweat getting all the decorations up!
We rearranged the living room so that the tree was the center of attention - as it should be. Tonight, a little chai tea, Christmas music and snuggle time on the couch! Happy Holidays everyone!
We were joined this year by Dave Shipley (you should remember him from the wedding :) I was so excited the night before I had everything ready to go. Cups - check, cocoa - check, oranges - check, wheat thins - check, skittles- check. I was all ready for another perfect traditional family tree hunt.
Well, we got up the morning of and it was POURING rain in Tacoma. We were hoping we would hit snow in the mountains so that we wouldn't have to hike in the rain. Our wish did not come true and we think it would have been a lot easier if it had! The rain caused the snow on the ground to be complete slush and although it was warm so therefore not ice, slush is slippery stuff! While trying to climb up the logging roads we had to bust out the chains for the first time!
So, for the most part, I sat like a comfortable princess in the truck with the heat on while the boys dealt with the chains in the rain- yuck! Both of them had jeans on, and needless to say by the end of it all, they were soaked.
Tom got a chance to be up close and personal with his truck (oh, and Dave did too!)
But in the end the chains were successfully placed and we safely made it to our tree hunting venue.
Before we set out we were in need of a refreshing snack, so some home-made pumpkin bread (with the left over pumpkin puree I made for Thanksgiving) hit the spot! We all grabbed a hunk (who needs a knife?) and began our hunt.
The camera batteries died while up in the woods (I left the extras back at the truck) -but I did manage to snap two photos on our journey. We passed a beautiful winter scene with this free-flowing brook:
And we walked about 1.5 miles to the top of the hill (the perfect spot was "just around the next corner). But we were rewarded with breathtaking winter wonderland views!
We were in the hunt for three trees: one for Dave, one for us and one for John and Diana. And in the end we cam out victorious! Dave's tree was taller than him by a long shot!
And our two trees were gorgeous! And, let's just say that Tom was sure to "edit" my choices before I cut them down so we didn't end up with another over-sized tree that doesn't fit in our living room like last year (it's in our post from last year if you want to refresh you memory :)
After our rainy hike we were ready for some hot cocoa! Since we don't own a thermos I thought I'd be really creative and bring our instant hot water pot and our power converter that plugs into our cigarette lighter But...apparently I should have checked it first because it didn't work! I knew I should have brought the JetBoil!
Oh, well, there's always a drive through coffee stand somewhere in the state of Washington!
So, we made it home safe and began to set up our beautiful tree. Thanks to Santa Tom, it was a quick and easy set up.
I worked up a sweat getting all the decorations up!
We rearranged the living room so that the tree was the center of attention - as it should be. Tonight, a little chai tea, Christmas music and snuggle time on the couch! Happy Holidays everyone!
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