Christmas Time!

The advent of Christmas is always marked, in our home, with bringing home the Christmas tree. Growing up, my family always went and cut down the tree. Hours, literally, were spent scoping out the farm and searching for the "perfect"tree. When Aaron and I were first married, we continued this tradition until Mason's second Christmas. By then, Christmas tree farms were far away and the thought of traveling 2 plus hours to cut down a tree just didn't appeal to me. Now, we hunt for a lot that carries Douglas Fir (my fav) and call it a done deal. This year, it happened to be raining as we left for the lot. However, upon arrival, the rain let up. And I'm pretty sure I got mother-of-the-year award (from my children at least) for the time it took me to locate and select the "perfect" tree for our home. Drum roll please . . . 10 minutes! Actually it was more like 7 1/2, but we'll call it 10 with having to tie it down to the car! We got home and decorated the tree to our favorite tradition - Alabama Christmas (don't even ask how that got started!) Then Aaron cooked the traditional dinner of sauerkraut and sausage! Again, this tradition began our first year of marriage and we've carried it out. I think we do it cuz of Aaron's German ancestry - but honestly, I'm lost as to why. We just have always done it and now continue because the boys won't let us quit! This year's tree is especially beautiful because only the top 2/3rds of the tree are decorated, to discourage little hands from taking ornaments off and hiding them in unknown regions! It was a great night, and now we are ready for the Holiday season to begin!