Tree by Griswold

We got our tree on Sunday. Last year was the first year either Chris or I had ever cut down our own tree and we absolutely LOVED it! So that's definitely going to be a tradition for our family. The boys, of course, also think it's great. Last year we got about an 8 foot tree and since it had a bend in the trunk, Chris ended up having to cut about 2 feet off it before putting it in the stand. It looked really small with our high ceilings, so this year we decided to go a bit bigger...

I don't know why we went with the full 12 footer, but it seemed like a good idea when he was cutting it down. Once he started dragging it back to the car, however, we started second-guessing our choice. The guys at the tree farm estimated it weighed between 300-400 lbs. It took three people to get it on the top of the car.

When we got it home, we realized that although we have really high ceilings at their peak, the place we wanted to put the tree near the wall was only 9 1/2 feet high so we had to cut it down. Still, the tree has the girth of a 12 footer so it's pretty obnoxious.

The good news is that we finally have a tree that can very comfortably accomodate all our ornaments. Chris has many from his formative years, as he got one or two every Christmas growing up. Here's his ornament from 1978 when he was six:

It was really cool to show it to Owen and tell him that this is the ornament Daddy got when he was exactly his age. We have carried that tradition on to our boys so they get a special ornament to remind them of something that happened that year. Eventually they will take their ornaments with them when they move out and have families of their own. This is the one we got for Owen last Christmas to remind him of his first trip to Disneyworld:

We also try to get a "family" ornament that will stay with Chris and I forever. We bought one when we were in Disney last year, we had a "new home" ornament in 2002 for our first house and again in 2006 when we moved here. But my favorites are the pregnant snowman ornament my mother in law got me in 2002 when I was pregnant with Owen and the ones from the year we got married:

This bride and groom were given to us at our wedding shower by my mother in law. She even made a special padded box for them to be stored in.

Look how happy we looked on our wedding day!

I also have a ton of Santa ornaments because one day I would like an artificial tree in our foyer that is just all different Santa ornaments with our Santa tree topper. Then we will have the real tree with the hodgepodge of ornaments. I love how our tree tells the story of our life together. I look forward to adding many more ornaments to it over the years.