Our Weekend...
...was perfect. It will go down in history as one of my all-time favorites. We drove 40 minutes to a little mountain town where we stopped for our annual plate-sized donuts, then bought the permit to chop down a Christmas tree in the Pike National Forest. We tried a different spot this year, with great success. It took us a while to settle on the right tree because we had a few good ones to choose from. Carver chopped it down, and David and I (well, mostly David) hauled it to the roof of our car and drove it home. This year the kids decorated the tree entirely by themselves. Carver stood on the ladder for the highest branches, and Lily and Zinabu took care of the bottom. David and I sat and watched them, just delighting in their joy. Our tree is very kid-friendly. It's not color-coordinated or fancy or something that would win an award. But to us it's perfect. Every ornament the kids have ever made is on our tree--in fact, the kid-made ornaments take up most of the room. After decorating, we went out to dinner but gave ourselves plenty of time to come back home and watch It's A Wonderful Life together. It's David's all-time favorite movie, and he watches it every Christmas season. If you want to see David cry, feel free to join us next year during the viewing. We wanted to start the tradition of including the kids, so this was our first year. Other than having to pause the movie every 10 minutes to explain to Z what was going on, it was a huge hit. It was one of those days that you look around at your family and feel so thankful you belong to one another.

In the car, headed up the mountain pass.

Finding our spot in the woods.

On the hunt. The Santa hats are vital.

In front of the tree we chose right before cutting it down.
I think David was trying to tell me something important.
Bless his heart.

Not helping at all. Being a boy in the woods.

Next year, I think Carver might be tall enough to help put the
tree on top of the car.



Mama and Lily. Mama looks tired. Lily looks like she could
climb 50 trees and run 20 miles.



Getting ready to bring the tree home.

David takes a well-earned break with hot chocolate
and the rabbits.

Lily decorates.





The finished product. All 12 feet of it. You can't
even see the bottom third because it's so tall. Love it!