We Bought a Farm: Our 14 foot Christmas tree

Well we have a REAL Christmas tree for the first time since we left for overseas in 2010. In Turkey, they didn't sell trees, and in the Azores, we had a small fake one since they didn't really do trees. And then last year, I just didn't do a tree because Hannah was so little. But this year, we decided we wanted to get a tree from our farm.

I'll let JB tell the rest of the story in his own words .... (and then you can share in a few pictures from our decorating adventures. Decorating a 14 foot tree is NO JOKE!)

Chopping down our own Christmas Tree seemed like a great idea now that we own a farm. We have over 50 acres of forest, so we kinda had to do it.

Well, we learned a few things...

First, I am pretty sure Christmas Tree Farms do some management of their trees so that they grow straight, evenly on all sides, with just one trunk, and not too close to other trees, because trying to find anything that resembled a "classic" Christmas Tree in 50 acres of untended woods was not even close to easy.

Second, Eastern Red Cedar may have been the most common Christmas Tree in early American history. It has a great scent. It is a pretty tree. But, gosh darn it, the needles hurt. My forearms are on fire from all the needle sticks while trying to cut it down, put it up, and trim it.

Third, and finally, trees look a lot smaller when looking at it in the wild than when it is sitting in your house! I recommend bringing a tape measure with you into the woods. What we thought would be a nice-sized tree turned out to be almost 14 feet tall! Fortunately, we have a tall ceiling in our living room where the tree was going to go, because we needed it!

JB trying to get an ornament on. We haven't even figured out how to get the star on yet!

Our little dancer -- always dancing! She had just come back from ballet so she will still dressed from class.

Here's a picture of us searching for a tree.

We picked one!

This picture really shows how big it is!