(Gr)Attitudue; Day Twenty-Nine
11:16:00 PM
My husband's family has had a long standing tradition where they go and cut down their own Christmas tree from the mountains! The Friday after every Thanksgiving is tree cutting day and you can bet that I was not going to miss out on this adventure, no sir!
I've been incredibly excited about our "first" Christmas together. It's been in the forefront of my mind since before Halloween. There was no way in heck that I wasn't going into the freaking mountains and chop myself down a beautiful Christmas Tree with my husband. The only thing that could have kept me away from it was a serious injury or sickness because I have had this mental picture in my head of a perfect Christmas with a perfect Christmas tree. After getting our tree today, that mental picture is one step closer to becoming a reality! (Now I just need to work on looking like a model right when I wake up. No biggie)
Mitch and I bundled up and left for his parent's house early in the morning. I don't think we were quite as prepared for how cold it was going to be this morning, but I was so excited to go I practically rushed Mitch out of the door.
By the time we had hauled the tree down, I was so warm that I wanted to take my coat off. The sun was shinning so brightly and the trees all looked so gorgeous, I had to take a selfie.
I've been incredibly excited about our "first" Christmas together. It's been in the forefront of my mind since before Halloween. There was no way in heck that I wasn't going into the freaking mountains and chop myself down a beautiful Christmas Tree with my husband. The only thing that could have kept me away from it was a serious injury or sickness because I have had this mental picture in my head of a perfect Christmas with a perfect Christmas tree. After getting our tree today, that mental picture is one step closer to becoming a reality! (Now I just need to work on looking like a model right when I wake up. No biggie)
Mitch and I bundled up and left for his parent's house early in the morning. I don't think we were quite as prepared for how cold it was going to be this morning, but I was so excited to go I practically rushed Mitch out of the door.
While we waited for Mitch's family to get ready to go tree huntin', Mitch and I held the newly born puppies. Holding these adorable little guys makes me so baby hungry - to a point when it isn't healthy. Good thing I got to hold three!!!
Once Mitch's family was all bundled up and the snowmobiles were secured on the trailer, we all drove the hour or so drive up to the mountains. At first, there wasn't any snow on the road and all that kept going through my head was "Great, we've spent the last two hours getting the snowmobiles loaded and now there isn't going to be any snow!"
Thankfully, my poor sport attitude was quickly rectified when we turned a corner and BAM! there was easily a foot of snow. We unloaded our snowmobiles then and there and decided to park the vehicles in this little empty, snow-covered field.
I didn't think to get a picture of our snowmobile that Mitch and I shared, for several reasons; it was pretty beat up, it died on us every time we slowed down, and last but not least, it took a few minutes to start up each time it died. Every time we started it back up, it couldn't handle both of our weight so I had to try and run along side it until it reached a high enough speed that it wouldn't die. Then I had to jump on it like Indiana Jones so that I could get a ride and it wouldn't slow down and die again. This Indiana Jones/James Bond fiasco did not occur just once or twice, but a multitude of times. I was having a serious love/hate relationship with the snowmobile that day.
Hence why many of my pictures are when I am far away from any sign of snowmobile life.
Mitch and I had told my parents that we would get them a tree. Little did they know that when we said tree, we really meant monster. Mitch found the perfect tree that would just barely fit in their living room. I have a really bad habit of exaggerating, but I'm guessing it was around 18 feet tall.
 |
| Mitch hauling my parent's tree down the mountain. I married an incredibly strong man!! |
We found my parents tree easily. After Mitch had sawed the sucker down by hand, we had to drag it off the mountain. Our snowmobile was still on the trail but to scout out thicker trees in the denser part of the "forest", Mitch and I had walked on foot up a large hill. Mitch carried that tree down for what more than likely was 300-400 yards to our poor, little dead snowmobile.
On the scout for our own tree, Mitch found this little guy. We figured that if nothing else, a Charlie Brown tree would be perfect in our apartment. Thankfully right around the corner, we found our tree!
Our tree is a huge, dense, lush green tree that is so beautiful and magnificent, I made Mitch stop looking for other trees that instant and cut it down. It was the perfect height, perfect density, and perfect smell that I knew this had to be our first Christmas tree! Thankfully my husband is a sweetheart (he likes to blame it on the fact that he was tired and freezing) and he cut down the tree the instant I fell in love with it. He is pretty proud of the find too.
After everyone had found their perfect trees (we had to find 5-6 different trees) we all headed back to the trucks. Since our snowmobile couldn't make it with two people, it was highly doubtful that it would make it back with two people and a tree, so Mitch drove on ahead with the tree dragging behind him and I walked down the mountain. It was very quiet and peaceful, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I was extremely afraid I was going to be knocked around by a Moose or a wolf or something. Mitch made it down the mountain and back to the truck as fast as he could so that he could come back and get me. It was dark by the time we made it back to the truck together, but we had found all 6 trees we needed!
After tree hunting, everyone was starving, wet, and tired. We stopped at Big Judd's and each ate more food than I thought humanly possible. It was nice to just relax after running around on the mountains all day, starting up dead snowmobiles, and James Bond style jumping onto moving vehicles. Our work wasn't done completely; Mitch and I still had to drive my parent's tree to their house and help them set it up.
My parents were completely awed by the tree. It was a huge, lush tree and fit perfectly in their house. There was even enough extra room for a star! In the above pictures, we are prepping everything and trying to get the tree centered in the tree stand.
Mitch for scale. It is a serious monster! My step-dad couldn't stop saying, "Oh my gosh, it's beautiful!" the entire night. My little brother, Henry ran around yelling, "Santa's tree!"
This beautiful, real tree had everyone enamored.
Mitch needed to trim a few inches off of the top so I stood on the ladder to stabilize it. The tree is taller than both of us on a ladder! Every time I look at it, I marvel, wondering how on Earth we got it down the mountain.
Today was wonderful! If I wasn't in the Christmas spirit before today, I sure as heck am now!
I am grateful for a wonderful husband who is strong and determined. Without his steel-like strength, there is no way a tree would have made it down the mountain.
I am thankful for traditions like this that are so memorable. I can't wait to start my own traditions with my sweetheart and our family!
I am also grateful for wonderful in-laws that have graciously allowed me to come barging into their lives and deal with my lack of any mountaineering skills.
Most of all, I am grateful for the opportunity to get my first real Christmas tree! I'm absolutely in love with it and the idea of Christmas this year!
I think I'll do it all again next year (;
- Alex
0 comments