2013 Catch-Up: Cutting Down the Christmas Tree

The day after Thanksgiving this year was the designated day to help my parents and sister cut down their Christmas tree.  It had recently snowed, which made for a beautiful, albeit chilly, event.

The kids quickly discovered it was fun to knock snow off the trees to assess their needles and symmetry ... or that it was just fun for fun's sake.

I tried so hard to get the kids to stand still for a picture, but, being in a silly mood, they instead got down on the ground and wiggled their tushies at me.  So I took a picture of that.

They finally cooperated ... kind of.

Then I asked them to hug each other and, their snow gear weighing them down, they took a tumble.

But, as luck would have it, I was able to finally get our Christmas card picture taken!  Here it is:

I even made it into a shot!

After paying and getting the tree secured on the roof, we hopped in the car to get some lunch.  The kids spontaneously held hands for a little while along the way.

Lunch was great but we had lots to do back at their house, so we scurried home to get the tree up and decorated.  Baylor colored for a bit while the guys brought in and secured the tree.

Once the tree was up, my husband sat down in a chair and didn't move much until the decorating was over.  He's not really one for decorating trees or houses or anything, so he generally just tries to stay out of the way and enjoy the merriment from a comfortable seat.

Mollie took a bit of a rest on the couch while the tree was being situated, and Aunt Christine treated her by reading her a story.

The annual vacuuming up of the first fallen needles was quickly taken care of.

And then the decorating began!  Well, after Mollie played with the ornaments, of course.

Dad even let the kids put some higher up on the tree ... with his help, of course.

It was a beautiful tree, filled with ornaments full of memories.

On our way back to our house, Mollie actually dozed off.  Tromping through the snow apparently really took it out of her.

So much so, in fact, that she didn't wake up after being transferred inside to our living room.  She didn't wake up when Baylor snuggled up to read and pretty much sat on her legs.

But she did wake up when he tried to steal her blanket.  She wasn't really ready to get up, though, so she curled up and snuggled into her brother.  He wasn't having that, though.

As usual, it was a very fun, cheerful day and a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season!