Cutting Down the Christmas Tree

11-29

The day after Thanksgiving is typically reserved for cutting down the Rustand family Christmas tree. :) We have had some fun and memorable experiences in the past handful of years! This year would not disappoint. Matt picked the spot - uh, obviously. He knows all BLM land pretty intimately! He picked a great spot this year, on a two-track road off the road we were on last year. I grossly underestimated the amount of snow we could potentially run in to since it was supposed to be 60ish degrees in Canon on Friday. :( Mom fail. As you can see, we did the best we could with what we had to work with, pulling the kids' socks up around their pants and putting on hats and mittens. We mostly walked in the tracks on the road staying out of the 8ish inches of snow on the ground. At least for a while! We actually spotted our tree almost right away but continued to hike up the road for a while. The kids had SO MUCH FUN!!! Alanna didn't want to walk at first, but she warmed up and embraced her adventurous side after a while. Charlie jumped right in and didn't stop smiling for nearly the entire 90 minutes we were out. I was SO TICKED OFF at myself for not planning better and bringing snowpants, boots, and sleds.... oh, Julie. As if it's hard to throw in a few extra things just in case! Ugh. Anyway, we decided that we could come back a different day to play and the kids would have just as much fun.

Anyway, it was a bright sunny Colorado day and we fully enjoyed our time. Right before we cut down the tree at the end, the kids found a little spot to slide down the hill in the snow. After many trips down the little (and I really do mean little!) hill, we pushed on, knowing that the kids would end up really cold in a hurry. We walked back to the tree we picked out, Matt got to work, and the kids and I picked out a little Christmas tree for Charlie to take home. While Matt was hauling out the big tree, I cut down a little one for Charlie - he was so tickled with it!! The last 30 yards to the car were a bit of a struggle; Matt carrying the big tree, I was carrying Alanna, the saw, and Charlie's tree (since he said it was too heavy), and Charlie was walking next to me all while both kids were starting to cry presumably because they were cold! We made it to the car where we peeled off wet layers and warmed up bright red feet (I'm still kicking myself!!!). Matt strapped down the tree while I got the kids settled with a snack. The kids perked up in a hurry and we cranked up the Christmas music on the way home. Seriously, I think this year has been my favorite of all our years cutting down our Christmas tree. What a beautiful day in a beautiful place!

Awww!!!

Throwing caution to the wind, Charlie had a blast plopping down in the snow!

This is our tree!! It's probably the best one we've cut down; a really nicely shaped white fir without any bare spots. As you can see it was standing alone! Oh, and the backside view of Matt is for your viewing enjoyment. Or rather, MY viewing enjoyment. :)

You'll have to look closely at this picture to find where our tree ends and the one behind it keeps going... it really wasn't a 30' tree like it appears in this picture! And check out Charlie's tree!!

He man-handled it for a while before declaring it too heavy.

Strapped and ready to head out!