christmas tree hunting

I'm just not going to talk about the other kind of hunting (deer)  - except to say that Dirk and Anika have spent quite a few hours in the Hills -- but have not been able to fill her tag this year.  They are having a good time, and have seen some deer, it just isn't working out.

However, CHRISTMAS TREE hunting was a HUGE success for this family!!  We decided to try Bethlehem Road this year, being a little closer to the house that our usual Northern Hills tree-hunting-grounds.  Dirk thought just maybe we would find something in the spruce persuasion.  We tracked our milage on the way home and found that we found our tree about 12 miles from the house.  :)  Not too bad for an afternoon adventure!

I packed a winter-picnic lunch of chips, oreos, sliced cheese and hot cocoa - thinking we might be gone for many hours.  We headed out and found gravel and bumpy road quite quickly!  The kids thought the off-road (it really was a road) was pretty fun... and a little slippery with the new snow.  We saw LOTS of ponderosa pine but not too many spruce.  At one point there was a very tall spruce (40 ft?) off to our right -- and I suggested we stop to walk around the area just in case there was a smaller tree somewhere around it - behind it - that we couldn't see from the road.  A few yards walk, and sure enough -- there was a picture perfect tree another 50 ft from the big tree.

 Dirk did his best to eye-ball the height... Thor helped him hold while he sawed... and the tree was loaded up!

It didn't take long once we were home, and the tree was ready for decorating.  Liv had the box of lights and decorations ready before Dirk had the tree fastened in the stand!  I guess she was READY!    As you can see the tree fills our living room quite well!?!?!  We did have to trim the very top about 8-10 inches... it's one of the biggest (around) trees we have ever had.  AND one of the most perfect - even compared to the purchased trees.  Best $10 we ever spent!  :)