Deck the Halls

Decorating for Christmas this year looks far different for our family than it ever has. For the first time in our married life, we actually have the space for a real Christmas tree and not just a 4-foot shrub perched precariously on top of a piece of furniture!

As in the past few years, we wanted to carry on our tradition of going to the mountains and picking the perfect tree for us, cutting it down, and hauling it home. This year, you could say our selection process looked a little bit different. We were too late to get a permit (as we had been just a bit distracted last month with Josiah's health), so we decided to find a local tree farm and cut one down closer to home. After driving around yesterday for a while, we gave up and settled for this:



John felt defeated, but it was becoming more clear that if we were going to have a tree at all this year, it had to be done. And he certainly wasn't going to cave and buy a fake tree, so this was our best alternative. Really, "Homer's Tree Lot" had a nice selection. And you can tell by my family's attire that standing outside to make the choice was certainly preferable to the blizzard conditions of last year!

The trunk was trimmed, the tree was tied up, and we tossed it on the top of our car for the six-minute ride home. That's right -- six minutes.

Lucy really enjoyed hanging ornaments, though I had to teach her to spread them out a bit. We're not used to a tree this big, so we've never had very many ornaments (or lights, or garland, for that matter), but all of them mean something to us.


One of my biggest concerns in having a real Christmas tree (and one so big!) has been keeping an active and curious 16-month-old from trying to climb, eat, yank, or otherwise destroy it. John assured me it would be no problem. What do you think?

Nah, no restraint necessary. I'm sure if he could talk he'd be saying "Let me at it!" The shrieking and stomping communicated pretty much the same thing. But after the initial displeasure of not getting to tackle the tree, even Joey got into the festivities. He loves to imitate his sister, so he started to gently try to place random objects in the tree.


Very cute. I'm wondering how long this will last...

A little sparse on the decorations, but it's ours, and it's perfect!

Really, I'm starting to consider shellacking it to preserve it for years to come.

Oh, and I can't forget the eye-sore that is our advent calendar. For years I've dreamed of having a classy advent calendar and filling it with Bible verses about Christ's birth, meaningful activities for the kids, little presents, and other treats. But then John brought this home and I decided the dream can wait another year. No, this advent calendar has absolutely no spiritual value, it looks tacky, and there isn't even a word of English on the whole thing.

But it's filled with German chocolate!