black friday shopping

On Black Friday, we got together with some of the cousins to do our typical day-after-Thanksgiving-shopping trip.  Christmas tree shopping, that is.  Because of the recent snow storm and in light of last year's adventure, we didn't go the usual route- which involves getting BLM permits and a jaunt into the real forest to track down our perfect tree.  Instead, we had to compromise.  We still drove to the mountains, we still hiked around the hillside to find our tree.  Only this time, we had to battle a few crowds.  The kids were a little undone with the fact we were at a tree lot (they think that's a bad word) and not in the "real mountains".  But, you know.  Sometimes you gotta give a little.

We bundled up everyone (Claire wore her pajamas, because. . .well, why not?)   Brrrrr!  It was cold, cold, cold!  Even Mr. Samuel made the trek. 

It seems our family is always the very, very last ones to find a tree. Something about waiting to hear angels sing, because, in case you don't know, finding the right tree is a very, very big deal. Sometimes it takes a while to get the go ahead from heaven.

Finally, after trekking all over two tree lots and taking lots of crap from Courtney (who I swear is just as picky as the girls and I) and Uncle Shawn, I saw beams of light. The only problem was that another family had already heard angels too. About the the same tree, that is. So. The only thing for me to do was to stand there. There they stood in a circle, holding a family council to make sure that this was indeed the only true tree for them. And there I stood, using all my evil powers to send them bad vibes about the tree.

It worked.

Just as the patriarch of the clan was about to fell my beauty down, he looked to the left and Lo! "What about that one?" With his suggestion (it must have been my evil powers, because, really- the new choice was ug. ly.), they all quickly agreed that they had indeed found the one and only true tree whilst I gave a silent cackle and made a mad dash for the men to come ASAP with a chainsaw before anyone changed their minds.

I was glad it all worked out so peacefully, as I was a bit reluctant to use my pepper spray ( I hear that's the cool way to get what you want on Black Friday).

So.  With our purchases decided, we cut those babies down and tied them onto the vehicles (okay, maybe I sat inside the car with the kids and a blazing heater while the guys took over that duty.)  Then, we packed up and headed down the mountain to the nearest hot chocolate vendor.  Joy to the world!

Let the holidays begin!  We have our tree!