We've Got a Tree

We've got a tree, we've got a tree, we've got a tree, hey, hey, hey, hey.

Tyler and I are celebrating our first Christmas together with a real tree from the Black Hills.  After buying some supplies, ax included, and purchasing a tag to chop a tree down ($10, yay!), we headed to the Black Hills to find our Christmas tree.  Unfortunately, LSU football kickoff was in 2 hours so we just stopped at the first sign of trees.  Next year we'll be sure to go north and find a nice tree.  This year we settled on a Charlie Brown tree...the biggest Charlie Brown tree I've ever seen.  

 Being that we didn't want to miss our favorite Tigers play, we stopped at the first sight of possible trees and walked a bit to find the perfect one.  It didn't take us too long being that we didn't exactly know what we were looking for and the fact that we were in a time crunch.  So much fun scouting the area for the best tree.  Tyler and I had an unspoken competition to see who could find the best tree.  We actually spotted the best at the same time...although Ty will tell you otherwise. 

Tyler hard at work.  Isn't he so dreamy?

I'm still pumped about snow...notice it on the ground???

Yay!  We have ourselves a tree.

I think I made it a few steps before telling Tyler that he had to take over.  Pulling a heavy tree uphill is not something I do on a regular basis. 

Cutting down our own Christmas tree was a fantastic experience and reminded me of my childhood.  Putting the tree in the house and realizing it was too tall also reminded me of a story my mom shares with us every Christmas.  Apparently, their first Christmas tree was too tall.  My dad took it outside and chopped the top off...NOT the trunk.  My mom cried.  My dad was in the dog house.  I knew better than to chop the top off of this beauty.  So did Ty.   There will be no Malcolm mistake this Christmas. 

Being out in nature and finding ourselves a tree really was a cool experience that I suspect we will do year after year.  Only $10 for any tree you find in the boundaries of tree cutting.  We plan on getting an even bigger, fuller tree next year.  Bring on Christmas 2013!