o tannenbaum

we promised you a weekend update ... and while we don't have it ready in full, we thought we'd tell you about the part of our weekend which featured the annual purchase of our christmas tree.
in years past, we have simply gone to a nearby lot, picked out the nicest looking fraser fir and hurried back home. and usually we're much closer to christmas when we finally get the tree. this year we wanted to be on the early side ... but in these parts you don't want to be too early, lest you run afoul of the christmas tree laws ...

this year, harkening back to both of our childhoods, mommy and daddy packed up jack on saturday morning and headed out to our favorite farm to cut our own scotch pine.

despite the cold weather and the 30 minute drive, we were all in good spirits and enjoyed tromping around the fields to find our ideal tree.

when the perfect specimen (or, in this case, the "good enough" specimen) was located, we cut it down before dragging it back for needle shaking, netting and tying onto our car.

after the tree was secured, we also took some time up near the barns to visit the goats (the chickens, pigs and cow were inside because of the chilly air) and stop in the market for some hot apple cider and a 1/4 peck of the last apples of the season.

yes, it took longer ... took more labor ... and wasn't even much cheaper (especially when figuring in gas/mileage) -- but cutting down our tree this year definitely seemed worth it.