This year we decided to have an adventure to get our Christmas Tree. The Dinsmore's had decided that they needed a BIG tree for their 1st Christmas in their house as they have vaulted ceilings in their living room. Pete discovered that for $5 you can get a permit to go in the woods and chop down a tree up to 12ft tall. Instead of driving to Lebanon to pick out a normal, free tree, we thought it would be fun to go tree hunting this year with them and our little ones. Let me tell you, next year we will hunt at a tree farm, or possibly on Starker land...
The Dinsmore's were supposed to arrive here between 9:30-10am but had a tough morning getting out of the house and left thier place about 9:30, so we were off to a bit of a late start. After deciding on our plan of attack we loaded up in our respective cars, them in their car and Oliver, Graham and myself in the truck.
We were off!
We decided to go the the Park Ranger Station in Zig Zag since Graham knew right where that one was. Oliver fell asleep about 1/2 way there as it was his nap time after all and we had gotten up a little earlier than usual.
I can never resist taking Sleeping Baby pictures. This is at the Ranger Station waiting for the boys to come back with our permits.
We got our permits and a map and headed off furthur up the mountain to where we were allowed to hunt for a tree. Turned out it was in the same area as Timothy Lake where we went camping this summer with Granny Nanny and Poppa J. It was a long, wet drive and we were happy to finally get to our destination. The trees were supposed to be mostly nobles but there was a mish-mash of varieties most of which were a minimum of 20 feet tall!
The next step was bundling up our babes and loading O into the backpack.
He wasn't too happy about it.
It was cold (about 34 degrees) and raining. Oliver has a nice warm coat but no mittens and his overalls were too short. (I had been concerned at home about it but was assured it was OK.) We did bring his rain boots but he screamed once those were on and luckily I had brought a 2nd pair or shoes to put on instead. Then we were off on the hunt! First off I found the perfect Teeny Tiny tree for Oliver's room that I have yet to decorate and is on today's docket of things to do. Pete pulled it roots and all of of the ground and we tossed in the back of the truck. Next we headed to the other side of the road to check out a "real" tree.
Oliver deciding that it wasn't so bad after all.
Looking very cold. I had to take my mittens off and put them on his hands as they were ice cold and bright red. He was crying again shortly after this picture and that helped him calm down for awhile.
The Hunting Ground.
Ann and Allison being miserable. Strangely I was able to get a picture one of the few times Allison was not crying. She was not a happy camper and wanted out of the cold and rain and we couldn't blame her!
We finally found a tree that would do. We pretty much settled for it as the babies were very sad and we were all freezing and wet. Our tree must have been close to 15 ft tall, as Peter cut it down at about 3 feet up (don't worry we took the whole tree, stump and all) and then another 3 feet were cut off before it came in the house.
We hauled our loot back to the road and Graham put Oliver down while he went off to find the truck and bring it to us. Oliver then started in full meltdown mode and Ann & Allison headed back to their car. The Dinsmore's had yet to find their tree and we were still not done yet, but we decided that it would be best if the Mama's got the babies back in the cars and warm while the boys finished the hunt.
Much happier in the truck with the heat on.
Showing off those chompers and a goofy smile.
Finally, a picture of Mama & O together.
"Look how wet Dada is!"
After maybe 1/2 hour the boys emerged from the Forest with a GIANT tree. At first, all I could see was a tree walking toward me and no people. The thing was so big that it filled the whole back of the truck and even the tailgate had to be down. I wish I had gotten a picture but I wasn't about to go back out in the cold. It had actually started snowing while they were out on the hunt. They tied the tree down and both boys stripped off their pants for the drive home as they were completely soaked through.
We had wanted to do the whole thing relatively early as to be off the mountain before sundown. We left just at the perfect time as the snow started getting heavier on our way down the mountain and was actually sticking. We got home just as the sun was setting. Ann and Allison headed back home and Peter loaded up their catch in his pick up. I swear the tree was bigger than his truck...
Graham's job wasn't quite done yet. He measured and cut the tree to size and brought in the house. We had a bit of rearranging to do but it made it into its new home.
Our Tree.
It's a Special Tree.
A tree that the other Chaney family members would love...
It has a Baby Bump as well...
The finished tree.
An Artsy Fartsy shot from sitting on the couch looking up.
All in all we had a good time, spent a lot of time driving and getting sore necks and backs, but I am happy to have had the adventure. Next year I will be getting a cute tree though...
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