Saturday, December 4, 2010

Going FAKE!

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This was one of the heartbreaking changes to our Christmas traditions. For the last 9 years, we have always headed to Helvetia tree farm, just minutes from our house in Hillsboro, Oregon to cut down our very own FRESH noble fir. As we looked around at the pickin's in Utah we just couldn't bear to pay good money for the pathetic real trees that had probably been cut down in Idaho or Oregon a month before. There are tree farms out here, but they are far away and would require a day trip, which we didn't have time for. So this year we went fake. It was such an event for the girls that they mentioned it in all their Christmas cards to friends. "We got a FAKE tree!" It really was not the same walking through the pre-lit tree forest in Tai Pan, but it wasn't too bad either.

We just told the friendly 'tree lot' salesman which one he liked and we didn't even have to pull out a saw. He pulled out his magic radio and told a guy to bring the brand and size we wanted up to the front.

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For FAKE trees, they really were quite pretty.

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We didn't have to carry it back to the car - it came in a box and the nice warehouse guy helped us get it IN the car - rather than tying it on top.

I will miss our nostalgic tree farm trips so much, but I won't miss . . .

Needles on the carpet . . .

Watering the tree . . .

Bugs . . . (one year we had a spider nest hatch - it was delightful)

Putting the lights on the tree!

I will miss our colored lights - it is hard to find a pretty fake tree with colored lights - but I loved not putting on the lights this year.

Maybe fake isn't so bad.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Look Who We Found!

From NovDecFavorites
When we heard Santa was coming to our neck of the woods - we were so there! Apparently, some other kids found out too, so we had to wait for quite a while in line. But it just made the anticipation build and build. The girls were so excited when it was finally their turn.

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Mrs. Claus came too - she was so cute. Sarah told us she asked for a Krusty Krab lego set.

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Angela told us she asked for a moving bear. Not sure where this idea came from, but Santa told her he would do his best.

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I love Natalie's expression. Natalie asked for a candy making machine.

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After our visit with Santa we went on a sleigh ride. Sarah's good friend Amalie happened to be there and got on with us. We had a lively bunch and sang Christmas carols and snuggled close to keep warm.

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We had hot chocolate and scones by the fire. It was a fun night - and a new tradition in our new town. (o: The best part was all the snow everywhere - it made us feel so Christmas-y!

Where Does All the White Go When the Snow Melts?

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One of the tippy top things on the girls list of why they were excited to move to Utah. And boy did they get a lot of it in November!

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I cannot get Natalie to stop eating snow - she is CONSTANTLY looking for a good patch and eating snow! (Even now, in February.) It is her new favorite food. The other day she found a stick and molded some snow around it to look like a marshmallow and she pretended to roast and eat it! What a hilarious kid.

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See - there she is again!

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Cute enough for a Christmas card. (o:

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All covered with snow.