November 27, 2018
Yesterday, I wrote about starting holiday traditions. I’d say almost every family can talk about how or where they get their Christmas tree every year. For some, it’s straight out of a box that has been hidden away for the last twelve months in the basement or attic. For others, it’s a day-long affair at a Christmas tree farm complete with hot chocolate, hiking, scouring for the perfect tree and of course plenty of photo opportunities. And, yet, for others, it’s cutting down a tree themselves.
We were always a Christmas tree farm family. Partly in part because my mom’s uncle owned a Christmas tree farm just a couple hours from us. My Aunt Mannon always had hot cider and sweets to munch on and Uncle Lee was always out manning the tying up of the Christmas trees. Four wheelers were running back and forth and men with chain saws were all around. Some years we’d hike the mountain looking for the perfect tree. Other years we’d pick the first good one we saw. And then there was the Christmas that my mom picked out and tagged her tree in July from their porch!
When Matt and I got married we got our Christmas tree a variety of ways. Sometime’s it was at Lee’s Trees. Other times it was at another tree farm with his family. And, yes, the Christmas before we moved to Montana (and Liam’s first Christmas) we bought a tree at a makeshift tree lot across from Walmart while it was drizzling rain.
Not exactly the picturesque first Christmas tree experience I’d imagine for my first child. Then, the next year he didn’t get a Christmas tree at all! Matt was living in a small apartment here in Montana and Liam and I came out to visit. And, last year, we’d only been in our house for a month. The days got away from us and we ended up picking up a tree that was already tied up in a makeshift lot outside of some closed store down the road.
So, this year I was determined to do something different.
The thing is, there are no Christmas tree farms in Montana. There are really only two ways to get a tree: 1) buy it at a store or 2) cut one down. When we first moved here this was the most foreign concept to me. The only people I “knew” who had ever actually gone to the middle of the woods to get a tree were the Grizwald’s…and we all know how that scenario played out.
But on Friday, we bundled up, headed to Ace Hardware to buy a saw, gloves and a $5 tree ticket. Then we headed toward the mountains.
The area is known as Hyalite Canyon. It’s a popular area for all kinds of outdoor play (camping, hiking, biking, fishing, hunting…you name it). It’s also higher in elevation (or as we say back home “up the mountain”). The farther we drove, the more snow there was.
Since college, I have hated driving in snow. After nearly sliding off a mountain on an icy road on our way skiing in college, I decided that nice dry roads were more for me. My heart used to quicken every time it would start snowing when I was at work. I’d pray that we’d hurry and get the kids home before the roads got too bad. Now, I drive on snow covered roads five months out of the year (but it’s all flat land with no hills to slide down or banks to fall off of as long as I stay in town).
All of that to say, that Matt doesn’t mind it and he wasn’t about to just have us pick out a tree close to the main road and park in a parking lot like everyone else. If we were going to have an adventure then we were going to have an adventure. So we set off UP (that means you have to come down!) a small one lane snow-covered road to find the perfect tree.
Our living room does not have much space for a tree so my main requirement was that it needed to be pretty slim. Natural fir trees are nothing like the nice, groomed trees on a farm. What you get is what you get. And most are not growing alone but with other trees surrounding it. So it’s hard to tell which branches actually belong to the tree you want to cut.
Matt and Tippet set off up a hill in search of ‘our tree’. Liam and I followed behind using Matt’s footsteps to lead our way. Otherwise, Liam around has been almost up to his hips in the snow in some areas! We finally settled on a tree about the right height that seemed like it could be trimmed to fit our small area and Matt set to cutting it down.
Matt pulled it down the mountain and we threw it in the back of the truck. When we got back home and brought it into the house I had a pleasant surprise.
Every Christmas I HATE cleaning up pine needles. When we drug a tree into the house I’d have to clean up hundreds of needles from the door to its stand. And then every day I’d sweep to keep them off the floor. As Matt brought our tree in, I cringed at all the cleaning I’d have to do as he held it down the hall and over our couch to its final spot. Once we’d got the tree standing I looked down and only then noticed that there was maybe five needles total all the way from the door to the stand. I was shocked! Now, it could have to do with the fact that our poor tree doesn’t have that many needles, to begin with or that we cut it down fresh from its natural home…but it didn’t matter to me. And it still doesn’t. Three days later and I’ve yet to have to sweep for the purpose of those pesky pine needles!
This holiday season has been very fun with Liam. He is really into the joy and spirit of it all. He wanted nothing more than to decorate the tree so I pulled out what balls I had and let him go to town.
Yes, there are no decorations more than three feet off the ground. Yes, the tree is just a big Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Yes, our decorations are sparse. But, this tree is by far my favorite we have had.
Will I eventually try and make it a little more presentable? Maybe. But he is proud of his tree. I am proud of his tree. So maybe, just maybe, this will be our tree this year 🙂
What do you love about your Christmas tree tradition(s)?
