Mighty Tree Hunters

Hey y'all -

It's no secret that we don't have the best luck when it comes to Christmas trees. We search and search for one, then your dad cuts it down, then the dog pees on it, then we put it up and decorate it, then it falls over and we sweep up the ornaments and start all over. But that doesn't mean we're going to give up! ...at least that's what I yelled at your dad as he moped off to find his hatchet.

The morning after Thanksgiving, we all headed out to cut down this year's tree.

The girls had all gone out on a scouting trip the day before, thinking it would speed the process up a little:

...but apparently, your dad is tired of all this Christmas tree nonsense, and when we'd gotten about 20 yards down the road, he gestured with his hatchet and demanded, "OK, do you want THIS tree, or THAT tree?" Sue and I looked at him like, "How about neither?" Nate looked at him like, "Good luck with that, brother." I mean, we own 20+ acres of pine trees and if you think I'm going to point at something random from the driveway, you've got another thing coming, Scrooge Burbach.

We picked a third option for our family tree, and then Laney told him that she'd picked a tree for her room, too. Dad swung his hatchet once, and the tree fell - before I'd even had a chance to pick up my camera and document the moment. So I made him do it over:

...and Uncle Nate helped Laney carry it home.

We got the tree up in Laney's room, and it's been upright for 48 hours, which is a new family record. Stay tuned to Treewatch 2012 for updates.

Love,
Mom