ahhh, fresh pine

After seven years of faux christmas trees, we are thrilled to be back to the real thing. The forest service opens up an area 10 miles to the north, and 20 miles east up the canyon, for cut-your-own trees. The drive alone was spectacular, but pulling a fresh tree into the house and kids making wreaths with the extra branches did more for making our home feel like a holiday home than anything.

I'd love to say our ceiling left room for this whole tree, but we were only able to kept the top seven feet or so -- the bottom half came home in pieces, and boy did the car smell good.

Next year we're bringing home the Dr. Seuss looking tree near the north end of the cutting area . . .