new tradition

Chic & Elaine's, Berlin, WI

I always love the idea of tradition, but I feel like I'm always flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to doing things the same way each year. The last few years we started going to this little {ok, not so little} tree farm in Wild Rose. They have the whole shh-bang. Tree farm, crafts, campfire, chili and even a sledding hill. It's a bit of a drive for us, but we love it there! One year we stayed until after dark. The tree was loaded on the roof and we were sledding till we couldn't see our way down the hill!

This past weekend, the kids were begging me {understatement} if we could go get our tree, but unfortunately, Jason had to work, so I kept reminding them that we had to wait for Daddy to be able to join us.

That's when I devised a brilliant plan. We would deviate from our normal routine a bit and try a tree lot near where Jason was working in Berlin. I found one word of mouth called "Chic & Elaine's Choose and Cut". Ok, it had the word "Chic" in it. I'm sold! Sounds like a quaint little place and it was. We loaded up the fam on Saturday morning and headed to Berlin. We picked up Jason from work {he took an early break} and we drove over to the tree farm.



Here's the one!

It didn't take long to pick out a tree. There were so many to choose from. I never considered myself a Frasier Fir snob, but I humbly admit that I think I'm turning into one. They are so full. So soft. Such a gorgeous deep teal green color. And they had them trimmed just how I like them - tall and narrow like a topiary.

Jack was actually the one who found our "keeper". We looked around a bit more, but ended up coming back to this beauty.



Me and my boy Jack. Man, he's gettin' big.





The whole fam {minus the photographer}.



While Jason loaded the tree on the car, the kids were admiring another couple's white golden retriever. He looked just like our golden, Beckett, only a creamy white. Simply stunning. After securing the tree, we paid and drove Jason back to work.



Jason dragging the tree to the car.



This is my feeble attempt to help him lift it to the roof.



The kids and I took the tree home and left it on the car until Jason got home. I even pulled into the garage with it still on top! Oops. Luckily we have a large garage door so no damage was done. I didn't even realize it until we got out of the car and I was unloading the kids.

The tree is now up and decorated. {My flash is on the fritz so I can't share a photo of that at the moment.} And the only thing we're missing is a blanket of white outside to make the atmosphere complete.

All this to say that I'm learning that traditions don't have to be stagnant. They can evolve and change somewhat depending on the circumstances. We still spent the time together. We still got a tree before the holidays. We still cut our own. And it was quite a fun morning!

Like most of you I've been busily wrapping, buying, baking and cleaning. I've also gotten my DIY on lately - look out! I'll share some of my DIY holiday projects later this week.