Christmas Tree Magic

Dad took us up on the mountain Saturday morning to hunt for the perfect Christmas tree.  We were going to travel by 4-wheeler but Dad felt bad for us trekking through the wind and snow so we all piled in his truck.  It started out with a bumpy (and cramped) ride over the hill and through the woods.  The girls couldn't stop laughing in the back as their heads bobbled over all the bumps.

We already have 4 trees up inside the house...yes, 4 trees! A big one in the living room, a tree in our bedroom, and the girls have their miniature pink and purple trees in their bedrooms.  We debated getting a real one in the living room this year but I like to enjoy the tree all season and put it up right after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I get tired of vacuuming dead tree needles and having a brown tree on Christmas so we went with the fake option.  We still wanted the experience of finding the perfect tree so we got a small one for the front porch.

Brittany suggested the tree below...which while very pretty, has a pretty big booty and not much on top so we continued looking.

Isabella thought this one was just her size, but it just wasn't quite big enough for the rest of us so we continued looking:

We got a little sidetracked and stopped for snow angel making:

We stopped for catching snowflakes on our tongues:

 We stopped for a snowball fight:

We stopped to take a few family pictures:

Can you even tell I'm wearing pants?

And finally, we found the perfect tree!  Which was also happened to be one of the first trees we spotted. Dad had brought his chainsaw for cutting this sizeable 2" trunk.

Timber!

 Kennedy packed the tree back to the truck and off we went.  It could not have a been a more perfect hunt...the snow was falling, the woods were still, the view was beautiful, the company was special, and the girls were joyful.

 Getting the tree back to Richland was a different story! We were packed to the max with suitcases, dogs, gifts, and PillowPets.  Don and Debbie gave us the YakimaBox for the Jeep - I cannot imagine how we would travel without one - it is so amazing!  We strapped our tree on top just like the Griswalds and off we went.

Once home, we decorated the tree with jingle bells and a Santa topper.

PillowPets and the Nutcracker

This weekend we went to Farmington to do Wagner Christmas.  In the continual search for things that make road trips more enjoyable for everyone (adults and kids), Shane bought the girls Pillow Pets.  Isabella got a purple unicorn and Kennedy got a blue whale that she named Salty.  We don't really watch alot of TV, unless it's something we've Tivo-ed for later, so we have missed the advertisements on TV for these furry creatures.  The girls were quick to sing "It's your pillow, and your pet. It's a pillow pet!"

 

Lady is in heaven on road trips with the girls.  She gets lots of love.  Dan is usually too sleepy to poke his nose over the seats.

Kelsey and Kevin had bought me a ticket to see the Nutcracker with them in Raleigh a couple years ago and I loved it!  We took the girls to see it in Spokane this past Friday.  I had bought two Nutcracker books, one for each of the girls, and had been intending all December for us to read the story together. Ya...not sure where December went, but we didn't quite get to it as planned.  But better late than never, we did read the books together (in the car on the way to the Nutcracker)!  Kennedy read her version of the book outloud, I read Belle's version outloud, and then Belle "read" us her version again.

The girls had a good time even though it was a pretty late night for them.  Kennedy followed along really well with the story. Isabella followed along well too, she waited and waited for the Nutcracker to make his appearance and was very impressed with the scary rat king.

There were lots of little girls there all dressed up in their Christmas dresses and curls.  Every time Isabella would see one she would ask me, "Is that girl a bride?" I think this summer's wedding-palooza has made quite the impression!  Mom and Dad treated us to coffee and ice cream at Perkins before the long drive home.  It was a fun night!

Christmas Cactus

I love this season for many reasons, one of which is the annual blooming of my Christmas cacti/cactuses.  I have two of them, a pink one I've somehow managed to keep alive through three moves and two states.  The white one I bought just last fall and is in its second season blooming.  I love that their buds mean Christmas is around the corner!

Nativity

Shane and I had a PRODUCTIVE weekend and I'm wiped out! We shopped till we dropped and our wallets were empty! We had a surprise snowfall Saturday afternoon.  As we were leaving for Hermiston, we opened the garage door and our two neighbor boys had almost completely shoveled our driveway!  It was so thoughtful (and unexpected) of them.

We loaded up the dogs and drove to Hermiston for a nativity walk. 

It was a good reminder about the miracle of Christmas and what it's really about - not just the gifts.

Can we decorate? Can we do it now?

Wednesday night Shane and I put on some Christmas music and decorated the house.  I found the nativity scene and a Christmas tree Gramma Betty had painted for me a long time ago.  It was really fun to find those again after having packed them away for so many years. The house really feels festive.

We did almost everything except decorate the tree trees.  We saved that for Thursday night with the girls.  Isabella was sooooo excited when she came in the house and saw all the decorations. She kept saying "Can we decorate?  Can we do it now?"  Last year Kennedy got a pink Christmas tree for her room so Shane made sure Isabella had one for her room; hers is purple.  We picked them up new stars for the top but they haven't put them on yet.

There were a few ornaments Belle wanted on her own tree instead of on the tree in the living room.  I love how she put them all on the bottom branches.

We got the girls two little angels when we were at the Biltmore over Thanksgiving and an ornament with each of their initials.  They put those on the tree the night we decorated.

Growing up, the star was always the last thing on the tree.  Putting the star on the tree was equal opportunity, both Kennedy and Belle took their turn at it.  It reminded me of blowing out birthday candles at our birthday parties where everyone got a chance (Mom and Dad would light the candles 6 times so we could each blow them out).  The pictures below don't show it but Shane was standing on a stool.  How he didn't fall off and break a leg or get a hernia while dead-lifting them from the ground while standing on the stool is a Christmas miracle!  The tree sure looks good!

I know, I know!  The dogs have those creepy eyes again.  I haven't figured out the camera flash with them.  But they are such good dogs and the girls love them.  Belle seems a little done posing for pictures.

A long time ago Mom had bought me a Christmas decoration with two dancing snowmen on it.  I love snowmen and last year I brought this over to Shane's house as a decoration.  Isabella fell in love with it last year and wanted it in her room. I unpacked it again this year and she clearly still loves it.

I can't even tell you how many times we have listened to Winter Wonderland from these dancing snowmen...but seeing her dance to it never gets old!

The Stockings Were Hung By the Chimney with Care...

In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there!

This is our first Christmas together officially as a family and I'm so excited!  I can't believe how having kids has made every holiday so much more exciting.  Christmas has seemed especially more magical this year.  Shane thought our new family needed new stockings and he surprised us with these.  I love them!  And I love him for being so sweet.