We decided to go somewhere different this year for our tree. When we lived in our old house, there was a family-run stand right down the street that we went to every year. Then last year we went to the Kirkwood Farmer's Market which is not far from our new house. They had a lot of great trees, but they were so crowded!! It was hard to look at trees and then get someone to help you. So this year, we decided to try a little family-run tree stand near our house and it was really nice. They weren't overly crowded and were very nice and willing to help. It was nice to support a family-run business again like we had in the past.
We used to always get a Noble Fir, but for the last few years we haven't been able to find anywhere that's had them around us. They are a tree from the Pacific Northwest and I know there has been a bit of a tree shortage the last few years, so we've gotten a Frasier Fir the last 2 years instead and decided to go that route again. The Frasier Fir is very similar to the Noble Fir so it hasn't been much of a difference.
Here are a few pictures of us at the Home Grown Trees stand last Saturday morning.
After getting our tree home, we always put it in a bucket of water in the garage for the rest of the day and overnight to let it get a good drink of water. Then we typically decorate it the next day. I already had the rest of the house decorated, so all we had left to do was decorate the tree. :-) Every year I take a "before" picture of the tree in the tree stand with the tree skirt on it that Jake's Great Grandmother made for him before we were even married. His grandmother is 93 and still doing well.
And here is the tree all decorated, even with a few presents under it already. I just love getting all the ornaments out and looking at them. They bring back so many memories for me. Some are from my Grammy who passed away 6 years ago. Others are from trips we've taken. I've made a few of them and bought a few that I really liked. Some are hand-made by the kids and others were gifts. Three years ago I started putting a special ornament for each of my kiddos in their stockings from Santa. They are always excited to put their special ornaments on the tree each year. I just love the hodge-podge of sentimental ornaments we have for our tree.
And a few more decorations in our living room and dining room.
The buffet in the dining room.
The chalkboard in our dining room that I need to change to a more Christmassy message.
I'm thinking of doing something similar to this on my chalkboard because the saying is so cute and exactly how I feel these days.
And I can't forget the favorite decoration for the kids, (and husband) our Christmas Train. :-)
So that's a little peek at our decorations this year. We've decorated the outside as well, which I need to take a few pictures of. Maybe I'll do a little post on that soon.
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