The modest christmas tree-making memories

We take great pride in picking out the BEST Christmas tree we can find!  We have done this in a few different ways. Our favorite place to go to now is a Christmas tree farm nine miles east of us.  Friends planted these trees almost two decades ago and have been open for business for three years now I think.  We make a day of it.  My husband has VERY fond memories of cutting down a Christmas tree each year as a child and we try to make new memories doing the same thing every November.  Here are a few things we have tried as a family and a few pictures of our modest and not so modest trees!

 For our very first Christmas tree we purchased a forest service permit, I think they run around $12, and went on a hunt in the wilderness to cut one down!  We actually did this for several years in a row and had some pretty sweet Charlie Brown Christmas trees!  We got hot cocoa and dressed in our warmest clothes and the children picked the tree they thought was the best!  For these tree hunts we often found trees close to the road or trail as we had to drag not only the tree but several toddlers (and sometimes a pregnant mama) back to the car!!!

There was a year or two in which we bought a potted Christmas tree, a living tree.  This was really fun because in theory when Christmas is over you keep taking care of it and plant your tree in the spring... we ended up killing it anyway though, so just a heads up!!!

One year we purchased a small tree from a family at church who donates their proceeds to the crisis pregnancy center!  Talk about a double blessing!  We got a beautiful tree and were able to help a mother in need at the same time.  We were pretty thrilled to get our tree there.

The last two years we went to a different tree farm, the one I mentioned at the beginning! This place is amazing.  It is really a whole family day adventure.  There are local crafts, free cocoa, music playing, kids on quads helping you pick and load your tree. You can feel Christmas in the air at this farm.  It is amazing!

However you choose to pick a tree, if you do at all, just know you are making memories!