It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

We went on our annual Christmas tree hunt today. They boys got out of school early so we headed out as soon as Dean got home from work. We had a bit of a rough start as we had a VERY grumpy ten year old. We finally got him out to the truck and off we went. Friends of our told us about a farm that had pretty good prices, so after almost 13 years we changed tree farms. I think we made a good choice as we got a Noble-like (I can't remember the exact kind) for less than we would've gotten a Douglas at the old farm. The boys had a good time wandering through the trees and trying to find THE tree (even Jake perked up and enjoyed himself).

Austin and Griff did a happy dance when we found THE tree.

Strong boys carrying the tree.

While we were looking, we met an older couple who wondered out loud if they were going to need to go back to the front of the farm to get help carrying their tree. So after we got our tree loaded, Dean and Jake headed back out to find them. They did and carried the tree to their car. As they did, the gentleman told Dean how he had had a stroke last spring and was so thankful for the people who have stepped up to help them with things (a neighbor mowed their lawn, Dean helped with the tree, etc.) He even invited us to their open house Christmas party on Sunday. He said that they would have their tree up with ornaments from the 1980's all the way back to the 1880's. They both were so sweet.

Jake in a MUCH better mood.

Our Christmas adventure continued when we came home as we began to decorate the tree. I tested each strand of lights before putting them up and all worked fine. When I got the tree 3/4 of the way done and decided to test them again...only half of one strand lit up! When Dean tried to fix them, they all went out. So I headed to the store to get new ones and of course, the only choice was red. They did have some big clear lights so we now have a mix of big clear and small red lights on the tree. I think I actually really like it. The Christmas spirit returned once the boys started to put their ornaments on the tree and were giggling the whole time.

Our pretty tree!

So my cousin Dawn, did a post on her blog about some of her favorite ornaments and I thought that was a great idea so I am going to try it too. After putting up all of ours, I realized how hard this is going to be. So I pick a couple older ones to post today and will do more in the next couple of weeks.

This is an ornament that my parents bought for me when I was little. She is so cute!

This is an another ornament that my parents bought for me when I was little. The date on this one was 1978, so I was five years old.

This sweet angel was a gift from a family who's kiddo was in my classroom when I worked at Kindercare. She is just so cute and reminds me of the cuties that I used to worked with (they are all now in high school!)