Christmas Tree Day

Our "Christmas Tree Day" is a relatively new tradition for us. Before a few years ago, we'd just get up one day and decide it seemed like a good day to go for the tree.

Before my Mom moved away and/or stopped spending Christmas in Georgia, our tradition was to go to her house around the first weekend of December to have a birthday dinner and cake for her, and the all grandkids would help her put up her tree.

We would put our tree up sometime after that.
We never put it up before December 1st, but some years we did not long after. Those years it seemed like the tree was up forever. Tooo long. I was tired of it before Christmas arrived.
Then other years for one reason or another we would be late getting it up, and it wasn't up for long enough. We'd be taking down before we'd even gotten time to enjoy it.

At some point in time, I hit on the perfect time for us, which I call our "Twelve Days Before Christmas".
Our Christmas is really more on the 24th than the 25th, so I figure it from that, so our Christmas Tree Day falls generally around the 12th of December.
Not always exactly (rarely exactly) since it has to be a Saturday or Sunday for Kevin to be out of school, and I have to work around everyone else's work and/or school and/or other festivities.

Still, for awhile, we'd just pick a day around the 12th and go get the tree and put it up, no big deal.
But then a couple years after my oldest son had moved out, he was apparently missing doing the things with us that he used to didn't care much for. He called me up one day a couple or so years back and asked me when we were going to get our tree, and said they (meaning him, mostly) wanted to go with us.

So they came and we all went to get the tree, then back at home I cooked lunch or dinner, and Christmas favorites like Rice Krispie treats, fudge, chocolate-peanut-butter-no-bake-cookies, white-chocolate-dipped-Oreos, etc. while they put up and decorated the Christmas tree.

(Looking back through my digi-pics, I see the first year they joined us was 2007, so this marks our 5th Traditional Family Christmas Tree Day party. Wow, times flies!)

This year's Christmas Tree Day fell on Saturday the 10th. We headed to our favorite tree-getting place, Silver Creek Christmas Tree Farm.

Last year it was cold and snowing on the day we went to get the tree. We kind of just ran to the first trees we saw and pointed at one and said, that one's good, get it and let's go!
Today was chilly, but practically balmy compared to last year. So we were able to walk around and look at more trees.

Of course the boys ended up in the Big trees field. Trees out in the field don't look nearly as large as they become when you take them into your livingroom. I kept having to say, yes, that's a great tree, but find one like it about half that size.

"Small" tree at the Tree Farm

Turns into Big tree at home

Why the Christmas Tree pic is so dark. I was attempting to learn to take a picture of the tree in the dark after reading some photograhy tips I found at Pinterest.  Obviously I stopped reading at "Using a tripod....".
I have a tripod, but have never used it. I guess I like to be free to move around, I don't know what. Anyway, I set up the tripod, turned on the camera on "Twilight" screen....and it didn't work.  Oh well, I will try again.

More pics from Christmas Tree Day in my Facebook album.