Christmas Tree Hunting

We had rain all day on Thanksgiving. The next day was a better day. But Saturday was the Perfect Day! Blue sky, sunshine, and 55+ degree temperatures. The perfect Christmas tree hunting weather. Once everyone was ready we set out for the mountain.

Leif's dad worked for the Forest Service as a career. So he is always our leader. He led us to the perfect spot on top of the mountain. There were plenty of choices and a lot of fun snow to play on. I wrapped Caleb onto my back and packed him as we hunted for our tree. Everyone had plenty of time to play in the snow. Jakob has been looking forward to snowball fights for months. He stayed down and played with Jason and Hannah. He was thrilled to help build a snowman with them as well as pound them with plenty of snowballs.

The rest of us hiked through the snow and looked for trees. This year was the first time in three years that I could actually really enjoy the hunt. I wasn't pregnant or recovering from giving birth. It was Great! After finding several good trees, Leif and I finally decided on the perfect tree. It is definitely the best we have found in the five years we've been married. It's a blue spruce with the perfect round and layered shape. Usually they end up looking a bit wonky and you just have to chalk it up as a sentimental find. But this one really is good.

So, we cut all of the trees down (ours, the church houses', Leif's moms, and Jason and Hannahs.) We took some fun photos to make sure we remembered the fun. Then my family had an idea. They decided they wanted to head up further and go to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I didn't think it was open, but it was. The unexpected trip took up the time that we would have all decorated my tree together. I was disappointed about that. But it all turned out well.

We had a good time hiking a bit to the different lookout points of the Rim. It was the first time Hannah had seen the Grand Canyon, so overall it was worth the trip. Besides, they got to take Jakob in their car on the drive home. So that alone made it worth it for us.:)

Once we all made it home we called Harmony and Darius back over and we went another round with our Thanksgiving feast. Man! We had some Good Food!

The next day my family headed home and Leif and I started decorating our tree. But that's a different post...