On Friday morning, we headed out to get our Christmas tree.
Growing up, it was my family's tradition to get our Christmas tree the Friday after Thanksgiving. Kevin and I have continued this tradition since we got married.
The only difference is that growing up we chopped down a Christmas tree in the mountains.Kevin and I have done this *most* years, but not this year.
We were just too busy on Friday/Saturday/Sunday to head up to the mountains because we had parties, photo shoots & family events, so this year we got our tree at...... (gulp) Home Depot.
We had so much fun with the girls cutting down our tree last year, I was bummed we had to go to Home Depot this year.
We literally walked into the tree lot, saw an unwrapped 7 foot tree, held it up & I said, "It's perfect, this is our tree."
(The guy next to us had just unwrapped it & his wife didn't like it, so he continued to unwrap tree after tree after tree. He told us he was bitter it only took us 30 seconds to pick a tree because he had been there for 30 minutes!)
"Hauling" the tree all the way back to our car.
The tree all ready to go!
As we loaded up the girls to go home, I was feeling bummed that the whole "tree" experience took about 10 minutes. That isn't what Christmas memories are made of!!!! And, my poor children were pretending that the orange Home Depot carts were sleds. Pathetic.I needed a pick me up so I told Kevin to drive to the donut shop.
So now, if we don't cut our tree down in the mountains, we will go to Home Dept and then get donuts....Hooray for new traditions!
Donuts aren't complete without chocolate milk, right?And...when I paid for the donuts, I got 3 dollars in change and the cashier gave me a $2 bill!!! FTW!!! So pumped. I am saving it. My Grammy used to give me $2 bills all the time :)
After we had our donuts, we turned on the Christmas music and busted out the Christmas decorations. It was the day after Thanksgiving...it's time for CHRISTMAS!Decorating for Christmas warms my heart.
I love the way our home feels during Christmas.
This Willow Tree Nativity set was a wedding gift to us 9 years ago & Our advent calendar that my mother in law made for Kate's first Christmas.
It just feels so warm & cozy. There is something about garland & lights that soothes me.
The sparkle & shine of ornaments. I love it all.
Christmas countsowns. Charlie Brown Christmas. Cozy jammies. Love.
Tree during the day & tree at night.
Not bad for a $40 Home Depot Tree ;)
Love it! And love the $2 bill. Erik's grandparents have been sending him $2 bills for every holiday and birthday since he was a baby and still do! I've been getting them for every holiday/birthday since we've been married and our kids have been getting them since birth. :)
ReplyDeletehooray! sweet tree. everything look so festive.
ReplyDeletei LOVE christmas!
xo
At least it's still a real tree, right? :) Loving the donut tradition.
ReplyDeleteYou are cracking me UP about the $2 bills. We can't even give them away at the bank-- people don't want them! Lol
We have the same nativity. Love the Willow Tree series!
Hi there!
ReplyDeleteWe just cut down our 1st Christmas tree from a tree farm in Auburn and it was a lot of fun! We've always done the home depot or grocery store tree 'picking' so this was awesome!
I've been looking for personalized stocking for about 2 years now and I have not had any luck. May I ask where you found your familys' stockings? They are super adorable!
Thank you! ~Jeymmy
Mel you and your family make everything look fun!!!
ReplyDeleteLove it Mel. You crack me up. We have a fake tree and we went to Kroger (grocery store) the other day where they have real trees and C was so confused! One day we have to do the whole mountian chop down...or Home Depot for a real one.
ReplyDeleteYour house looks great. We have same stockings and nativity. Can't wait to post my pictures. :)
Enjoy this season with your sweeties!!!
I think it's a beautiful tree!
ReplyDeleteSorry you didn't get to do your traditional cutting down the tree but glad you all could make the best of it with donuts & chocolate milk!!
I love Christmas too. Totally agree with it being calming :)
You are totally in the Christmas zone.. nice job, girl! I think our tree is this weekend. I just couldn't go get it when it was 85 outside. I want that picture like you have. Vest, hat, UGgs, tree. Perfect! :) By the way, the donuts are inspiring my breakfast choice for this morning. :)
ReplyDeleteI miss going and picking our tree... we never had mountains to go to, but we did have tree farms. Now, we have an artificial, prelit tree... GREAT for not having to clean up after it, but it still isn't the same.
ReplyDeleteThis is the *sweetest* post! I love the Home Depot pictures--that family portrait is a keeper! My mom sends the kiddos $2 bills--they love them!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, its a beautiful tree
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great spin on your tradition...especially the donuts. My mom gives $2 bills...that is so awesome. Your decorations are really beautiful. I love the bulbs in the bowl (might have to steal that!). We are going to decorate this weekend and I can't wait :)
ReplyDeleteI feel you on being bummed about the whole Christmas tree experience. We were supposed to go to the Christmas tree farm this year and get a real tree, but with our house on the market, we decided to save the $ and put up our old, ratty tat see-through fake tree. I was super bummed. But, trying to make the best of it! Got some new red bead garland to spruce it up a little... :)
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone!
ReplyDelete@Jeymmy The stockings are from Pottery Barn Kids!
Thank you Mel!!!
ReplyDeleteLove all of your beautiful decorations!!
ReplyDeletei love the donut tradition.
ReplyDeletewe cut ours down once when we still lived in mn. i loved it. since we have moved here we go to the farm stand by our house and get one. they have great trees but i think we need to spice up the tradition... like getting donuts!
Your daughter's are absolutely beautiful! Randomly stumbled upon your blog and I'm so glad I did! I can't wait to read more!
ReplyDelete♥ Kyna
http://greatexpectations-kyna.blogspot.com/
I love all of it! Such a fun post! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteVery pretty decorations! Your girls are always so cute! Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great tree, and sometimes it is good to have a back~up tradition. ;) I love your tree, and I love the $2 bill. I had a Grandpa that would send us all one each Christmas and gosh I miss him. I have mine all saved. :)
ReplyDeleteI started on COPD Herbal treatment from Ultimate Life Clinic, the treatment worked incredibly for my lungs condition. I used the herbal treatment for almost 4 months, it reversed my COPD. My severe shortness of breath, dry cough, chest tightness gradually disappeared. Reach Ultimate Life Clinic via their website www.ultimatelifeclinic.com . I can breath much better and It feels comfortable!
ReplyDelete