norway spruce

our tree hunt this year was just as exciting and magical as last year. i'm lying.  it was MORE exciting and magical!!!  as q gets older, things get more special.  HOW!?!?!?!?  how on this earth could getting a christmas tree get even MORE special!?  remember last year? (see here)  i used SO many exclamation points!!  well, i'm here to prove, that even more exclamation points can, and will, be used. (!!!!!!!!!!!)  we got a norway spruce again.  i'm POSITIVE it's the best christmas tree in the world!  last year it literally never died...not even after it lived by the garbage can for months and months!!! (you know you do it too, don't judge).  it's probably still alive somewhere!  creepy.  the only down side is that it doesn't smell. it's cool though, i cover every square inch of my house with live garland anyways which compensates for our scentless tree.  

safety lesson from auntie:pose with your toddler nephew holding a saw, and make sure it's blade up.

this boy loves to snuggle his puppy but does he like his puppy to snuggle him?  no.  it's absolute torture and probably it will kill him

i have a photo of me kissing our tree from every year we've been married but does my butt ever look this big?  nope.  did i put a pillow in my pants that morning?  maybe.  otherwise i can't explain it 

absolute sexiness.  a husband cutting down a tree for his family

i love kendra and quinn running in the background.  we loved having her come with us this year to teach us all about saw safety

a few of the reasons we always go to the Carnation Tree Farm.
#1. the tree shaker.  because there are spiders that live in these trees!!!! HORRIFYING! 

#2.  the tree shrinker net.
a).  keeps everything under control on the drive home
b). make it so you can get it into your tree stand without getting stabbed in the face.   

quinns first real interaction with santa.  he was a really sweet one but like i mentioned last year, IS IT SO HARD TO GROW A REAL BEARD!?!?  no.  i can almost do it (praise the Lord i am close friends with a wax-happy esthetician), so i'm sure a 65 year old (ish) man can do it.  

as it turns out, he does NOT like candy canes.  they are  too "spicy".  he spit it out all over himself super frantically like maybe we fed him poison.  

i love our tree and my little family that i get to celebrate christmas with.  my most favorite part of this year is that quinn has no idea what is about to hit him.  for now, it really really really is all about Jesus.  not that he knows the enormity of what that means to him, but he knows the story up and down and has all the 'facts' about the mary, jesus, the shepherds, the start, and the angels really well memorized.  i don't even have to worry about whether or not he's getting it.  he just is.  it's all he knows. i don't have to fight the battle of the less beautiful part of christmas for him yet.  i did get him lots of presents, and i'm excited for him to experience christmas morning but i will CHERISH, and hold in my heart forever, this Christmas eve night. when i read that story to him for the nine millionth time, and to him, that really really is all that christmas is all about. we've been watching this pretty frequently.  we have the storybook bible that it's read from and i read it to him all the time but i just don't sound as good as a man with a british accent when i read it.  i turn it on for q while i'm cleaning or prepping dinner and always i end up in the kitchen, listening, with my eyes closed, tears drenching my face, soaking in these words. 

"...and there, in the stable, amongst the chickens and the donkeys and the cows, in the quiet of the night, God gave the world his WONDERFUL gift. the Baby that would change the world was born. HIS baby Son....

and they gazed in wonder at Gods Great Gift, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. 

mary and joseph named him Jesus, Emmanuel, which means, God has come to live with us.  because, of course, HE HAD