Christmas is coming

On our way down to St George we stopped off in Oak City to do a little tree cutting. When you cut your own tree you are given a list of rules you must abide by in selecting a tree. Well my own personal opinion is it's impossible to find the perfect tree if you follow the rules and I figure as long as you keep the one about not cutting the tree next to the road who is really going to know. Another rule is you are supposed to cut the tree six inches up from the ground. The trunk it still alive and over time a new tree grows in it's place. In my experience we always find trees that are perfect but happen to be 12 feet tall so we just kind of cut the top six feet off and leave a bushy looking tree to occupy the forest. Over time the new tree grows in where it has been cut and it ends up being a little deformed looking with multiple trees splitting out of the main trunk. The benefit of this is I believe is they create a better habitat for all woodland creatures. Instead of one birds nest you can have 5 on each separate trunk. Talk about a family tree!

So why am I writing a whole lot about Christmas tree rules and my beliefs on them? This year I compensated for allowing crazy trees to grow in the forest by taking one as my own instead of cutting my perfect tree. Tree cutting is a lot harder when you have to drag two kids around and eventually we got tired and figured If you can't find the perfect tree you might as well cut the craziest one you can find. Our tree had been topped before and has what looks like three different trees coming out of the base. It's ten feet wide and when viewing it from the street looks like we put a bush in our front window. Yes after decorating it I may have been freaking out about having such a creature join in our Yuletide celebration. Fortunately today as Huntley and I were pulling into the driveway she squealed with delight and said "look at our crazy Christmas tree!" I decided that it's a whole lot more fun to have memories of the craziest tree around then the perfect tree.

As a side note our crazy tree is the most fragrant tree I've ever had. Triple the tree, triple the smell!

Thankful: day 27

I'm thankful for family time and the chance we had to spend the past five days together doing nothing but enjoying each others company. I'm thankful my hubby and girls are patient with me as I do my best at being a wife and mom. I'm extremely thankful for the chance to spend every day together and experiencing life with my little family!

Thankful: day 26

I'm thankful for smiles. Paisley is starting to grin it up and I love seeing dimples in her cute chubby cheeks. I love that she is now getting big enough that she interacts with me and smiles and coos. I'm thankful she is my baby girl even though she is growing up way too fast on me!

Thankful: day 25

I'm thankful for teamwork and that I'm part of a pretty good team. Yesterday was a long day. We spent half of it locked out of our condo and both girls had reached their wits end which was pushing me to my breaking point and beyond. Luckily I have an awesome teammate and between the two of us we spent the day taking turns switching off dealing with screaming kids or building up patience. I'm glad he's my eternal teammate and think we make a pretty great team.

Thankful: day 24

I'm thankful for life and the opportunity I have to live it. I'm thankful for good food, family, and the chance to spend it time enjoying life together. I'm thankful for Mera, Aunt Penny, and her girls who took over my girls for the day and let me craft with uber creative Aunt Becky. I'm thankful for a sweet hubby who just spent the past two hours standing in lines with me and my parents for watching the girls so we could have a midnight date. I'm just thankful for this day and making me realize how blessed I am.

Thankful: day 23

I'm thankful for holidays so we can have days off of work. I'm also thankful for family that lives out of town so we can have an excuse to go on vacation for holidays. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it to go on vacation with the amount of stuff we have to take but now that I'm all here and cozy in the same room with my girls it is definitely worth it. I'm thankful to have four whole days of family time in hopefully warm weather!

Thankful: day 22

I'm thankful for treats. I love anything sugar related especially involving chocolate. I love spending time with Huntley making treats even though it usually turns my kitchen into a disaster. Most of all I love "rewarding" myself at the end of the day with a bowl of something yummy. Probably not the best habit but I'm thankful for my quiet nighttime routine of snuggling up with my hubby and watching reruns on Netflix with brownies and icecream. It's definitely the simple things in life that make me happy.