Ah... traditions!

In order to blog about our annual Christmas tree shopping experience, I had to do a little trip down memory lane. I forgot my camera this year so in order to add a little life to this post, I had to go looking for pictures from our experiences in years past. That got me thinking...

Do you ever have traditions that are theoretically super fun... and, well, they don't always turn out the way you'd hoped?

That's our annual Christmas tree pilgrimage.

We get our tree at a beautiful Christmas tree farm out a bit in the country from our house. It's worth the drive.

We chat with the owner/farmer.

We pick out our perfect Christmas tree and my own Paul Bunyan gets down in the snow (or cold ground) and cuts down the tree.

(2007)

(2007 - "Um, yeah... can you stop taking pictures and help me here?")

(2007 - K "helping" S)

We drag it back to the big barn (and fall in the snow 20 a couple times) where Christmas cookies and hot apple cider are served.

(2005 - missing from photo: crying, sick, miserable one year old that is on my hip while I took this picture)

(2009)

(2009 - D missing from 2009 photos because he was miserable and refusing to have pictures taken being shy)

We visit the sheep.

All this while the farmer’s wife makes beautiful fresh wreaths in the barn.

(2009)

There are always nice trees, and cookies and hot apple cider. But sometimes there is a little extra drama.

Like...

When B was two, he wet his pants while searching for the best tree. It was freezing out and we had to drag him back to the car to change his wet clothes in the back of the hatchback.

And usually, freezing cold kids keep falling onto the freezing cold, often snow covered, ground… then I have to help S drag the tree back the barn while carrying a 20 lb’er on my hip… all while he/she cries, because he/she is cold

… and they have snow in their mittens.

(2007 - I know he is smiling here... but I promise you, 10 seconds after this picture was taken he was crying)

OR… someone has a fever and they really shouldn’t be going on it the cold. They have runny noses that drip everywhere and I can’t find a tissue to wipe their nose. They cry because they are cold and their nose is running

and they have snow in their mittens...

(2005 - "Seriously Mom, I'm sick, and it's cold... can we go home?")

OK. So this year's Christmas tree shopping actually WAS fun! YAY!!!!

No one fell (well I think D did a couple times but I just kept walking), no one cried, there wasn't snow on the ground, so no snow in the mittens.

And the tree didn’t fall off the mini-van roof on the way home.

ALL GOOD!!!!

AND… we even got the tree up in the tree stand without filing for divorce.