Christmas Tree time!

Saturday was the designated day for picking up our Christmas tree! We have a 'tradition' of driving 30 minutes to Slough House to cut down our own tree. Partly because it's $35 for any tree on the lot, and partly because when the kids were little, we got free hot cider at the Inn next door. The Inn is now closed, but the tree farm has vendors there on the weekend selling things like ice cream (it's too cold for ice cream!), kettle corn, and mandarine oranges by the bag.
On the drive down there, I remembered that I hadn't brought my wallet, so we detoured to Sunrise for an ATM machine and then some food!
We finally made it to the farm and began the search for the perfect tree. Pat (Ben's brother from another mother) came with us...well, we kind of kidnapped him. Anyway, the three 'kids' spent some time playing hide-n-seek through the forest. I lost sight of everyone and couldn't get them to answer me even though I used mom's trick of 'singing' their names. The place was packed with people, and I kept hearing what I thought were their voices. I'd head toward them only to find they weren't my family!
I finally went back to the truck and found John. The kids had decided that there weren't good trees in the area we were in, and crossed to another section.
We picked out a great tree, cut it down and brought it home. Okay, so it sounds so simple when I put it that way. In reality, John trimmed off some lower branches, and Ben and Savanah chided him for taking them off on the good side of the tree. It worked out just fine, though. John actually had to trim a bit more off for anything to fit underneath the tree. He said he does it every year, we just don't see it!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! (And God bless us, every one!)