fa la la la la. . ..

The girls love decorating the tree.

It's always so exciting for them to unwrap each ornament and remember whose it it and where it came from. And besides, decorating the tree means Christmas is coming. . .the most wonderful time of the year!

I would have to agree!

Courtney also loves decorating the tree. LOVES it. He loves everyone grabbing for ornaments at once. He thrives on the hyperactivity. Nothing makes him happier than chaos. Nothing.

He wouldn't miss out on this for anything.

"deck the halls with boughs of holly. . ."

"tis the season to be jolly. . ."

Yet again, another beautiful, slightly quirky tree. That's the beauty of going and cutting your own. They always have character! This year, the branches are very soft and have a hard time holding the ornaments. The girls learned that it works better if you hang the ornaments closer to the trunk where the branches are a little thicker. Therefore, all of the decorations are clustered right down the center of the tree. . .sort of hugging the trunk.

It looks awesome.

Regardless of the unique personality of each tree, the girls love this little tradition.

So does Courtney. He loves every. single. second.

deck the halls

While unpacking our boxes of Christmas decorations, I found this cute little thing.

I think I'll keep her!

thrill of the hunt

The day following Thanksgiving, we went to Idaho for our annual Christmas tree hunt. That's right- in the W family, the only shopping we do on Black Friday is Christmas tree shopping.

I'd take the mountains and fresh air over a crowded mall any day!

In years past, we have always gone with Ronnie, Nan and their boys. Oh, and we can't forget Joe, Bop's mechanic. . .what would we do without Joe and his trusty chainsaw? This year, we were excited to have Chris and Amy's family join us. Kelsey and her Grams also came (Uncle Shawn didn't think crutches would traverse the mountain so well). We had so much fun!

Chris and Sadie

The W bunch was a little bit slower at finding our tree. Christmas tree shopping is very important. . .you can't just go and chop down just any old tree. In addition, our ceilings aren't very tall, so while everyone else can cut down the first 15 ft. tree they see, we only need about 7 feet! Have you ever tried to find the perfect 7.5 in a forest of giants? Let me tell you, it's a little bit tricky. I kept trying to talk Joe into scaling one of the really nice 80 foot trees and cutting the top off for me, but he didn't think that was very environmentally friendly.

After a while of hunting, we took a break for a picnic. Grams kept Emmy nice and toasty while they lunch. We love Grams!

After much teasing by my brothers, we W's carried on in search of our perfect tree.

When we saw this baby, we knew it was the one. In fact, I'm quite positive I heard angels singing. If you'll look closely at this picture, you can see the beams of light descending from heaven.

"Laaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

(Didn't you hear that?)

Joe and Courtney chopped the tree. (Okay, so maybe a chainsaw was involved.)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

This is my kind of day-after-Thanksgiving shopping.

thanksgiving 2009

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

This year we were with the C bunch. (Which, I might add, is quite a large bunch!) Everyone but Matt and Kerri's family was able to come, and we all had a great time being together.

Claire was pretty happy about her Turkey Day, despite the fact she threw up most of the day. Despite my best efforts to keep her from eating, every time I turned around she had charmed someone into giving her some grub.

Can you blame them?

After dinner, the boys did some shooting and Grandpa managed a few four wheeler rides with his posse.

Following dinner, Kelsey gathered the kids to play the candy bar game. As you can imagine, it was a hit. Meanwhile, the rest of us parents sat at the table and visited while she did all the work. We're pretty good parents that way.

I loved it when I came around the corner in the kitchen that evening to find Kadin crashed right in the middle of the floor. A good day of cousins, fun, and turkey will do that to you!

Another terrific turkey day!

turkey lurkey

daddy's girl

If Daddy is home, you'll most likely find this little girl right by his side. Lately, she is his right hand gal. Claire and I are pretty good buddies unless Dad is around. . .then I definitely take the back seat!

But. . .can't say that I blame her.

I've can't get enough of him either.

sweet dreams