Heath has been somewhat overcome by the urge to hike--like all the time. He has gone on 3 significant hikes in the last month and even in the snow!! He has another planned for next weekend that includes camping overnight. Now, the thought of camping in the winter has zero interest to me, but he is super excited. I really wish he would take the time to get on here and document his adventures for all of you. I will try to encourage him. He has some great pictures. This would lead me to the subject of this blog--our family Christmas tree 2009. Normally we have a real tree; we just go to Lowe's and pick a nicely shaped tree. We received information that, here in Colorado Springs, you can purchase a permit and travel into the mountains a bit and cut down your own tree. Since Heath has become quite the mountain man, this option was very appealing to him.
I was reluctant to go, only because I was sick (and because they had some beautiful trees at Whole Foods!!) and I just wanted to rest, but I braved the elements and it was actually a wonderfully amazing time. I also must remind myself of an earlier blog about creating memories, etc.... So, shame on me for even thinking that I was too sick to venture out into the forest with my family and pick our tree. I will let Heath have this one, it was a great idea and I believe a tradition we will keep for some years to come. I also think it gets better with experience--ya know, where the better trees can be found. We also took this great opportunity to take our holiday photo. Let me just tell you that is turned out great, but will not be viewed in this blog--you will have to wait a little longer for that. Now, let me get on with our Hoke Family Tree adventure and photos.
We found a nice place to park and immediately had to decide to go North or South (that might be wrong, it is hard to know my directions when I am IN the mountains). We trudged up the first hill and came across millions of pine cones and I decided that I wanted some for decorations--made Heath go back to the car to get a bag!! While he was gone, Layne and I took some silly photos. Here she is trying to get the cover off the ax so that she can pretend to chop this dead tree.
Can't get it off, no problem, we are just pretending anyway--right!!
The walking really wasn't too bad, just enough snow to make it pretty but not too much that it was difficult to maneuver. I did have to stop occasionally to catch my breath and wipe my nose--but I kept going. This is just a photo that Layne and I took on one of our stops.
And here is another of Heath and I.
So, we got our Christmas photo, collected pine cones and then finally decided on a tree. I know I didn't expect to just look out the car and find the perfect tree. We had already been warned that these trees would be more sparse than your average tree from a store or lot and they obviously wouldn't have been pruned and trimmed to be perfect. So, with all that, we did decide on one that would work--actually Layne is the one who found this tree. I did have a few requests and mostly that it was a fir--with short needles. So, it qualified and Layne was very happy with what she found. It is hard to tell in the photo, especially with the larger tree trunk in the background.
She also decided that she would be the one to chop it down. She wanted no help and was determined to do it herself. Besides chopping the tree, she also did a bit of chopping on the ground--but she did it!
And she was so proud of herself when it came down--it was wonderful to watch.
She likes this photo because she thought it was so funny. We could see other stumps from those that had gotten their trees before us and most used a nice saw and had a straight cut--she liked hers because it was so chopped up and nubby. We have cut that end off the tree to save!!
I do love this photo, but I must tell you that right after it was taken Heath proceeded to throw Layne down in the snow. She was just upset that she didn't see it coming.
While Heath was getting the car, Layne and I once again took some silly photos. Although, I really like how this one turned out. It is hard for me to believe how big she is getting, but we still get along so well. She is a great kid and seems to enjoy her time with us--so there isn't much more I could possibly ask for.
The final task was to get that tree on the car. We learned, once we got home, that she was 18 feet!! They just don't seem that big out there in the forest.
We got the tree home safely and Heath and Layne decided to cut her down to 12 feet. That is a little taller than I had planned but we do have very high ceilings that can accommodate a tree that size. Layne really wanted to keep it big and we just made sure it didn't hit the ceiling fan. We are still in the process of finishing the decorations and will get up pictures of the final product.
I hope all of you are making some wonderful holiday memories for you and your family. Thanks for sharing in ours. This is a wonderfully magical time of year, no matter how old you are--enjoy and don't let the stress or busyness ruin it for you. Take the time to stop and enjoy what is really important.
I have this quote on the front page of this blog and I also have it as a gift from Layne on a photo she took and had framed for me--but I will put it up again because it seems appropriate.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
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