It’s almost Christmas in Oregon, which means it’s time to go cut a Christmas tree!
It hasn’t snowed in the mountains for weeks, but it has been nice and cold, so I figured there would still be some snow for sledding. We decided to gather some friends and make a day of it.
We cut the tree first, while we had lots of energy. Since there was only about six inches of packed snow on the ground, we were able to walk into the woods after the tree in our regular snow boots. Much easier than snowshoes!
Shoveling it (in).
It took us a little while to find a tree that was short enough and full enough to make a good Christmas tree. Wild-grown trees are necessarily a little Charlie Brown-ish, but they always look great with lots of lights and ornaments on them.
The kids practiced their saw safety:
Like this?
Big brother shows how it's done.
Cries of “Timber!” rang through the woods, and we heaved and pulled the monstrous beast back to the van.
And then it was time for:
Sledding!
Sledding!
The kids loved the hard, fast snow. They are fearless. I, on the other hand, got jounced around hard enough that two runs was enough for me. I was happy to be the designated photographer.
After a peaceful ride home (Sylvan read aloud to himself from chapter books during the whole ride there and back), we took a quick break to go down the street and watch a little Thomas the Tank Engine with Señor Cupcake…
Señor Cupcake's mom says that Elena can come hang out with him any time. That sounded good to Elena.
… followed by putting up the tree!
No ornaments yet. Just a really soft tree skirt to rub our faces on. Did we mention that it was really soft?
thank you, almost like being there.