Cutting the Tree

The day after Thanksgiving we set out for our traditional Christmas tree cutting.  It was a bit strange to not be heading up the North Fork or Sunlight Basin.  Instead, our destination was the Snowy Range about 70 miles away.  Although we were somewhat out of our comfort zone, we were coming full circle to familiar territory where we began cutting our own tree 10+years ago while living in Laramie. 

 After putting in a pretty good search over the mountain side, we ultimately chose this sub-alpine. We were all pretty excited about it...really....that glare you see has nothing to do with the tree and everything to do with the saw that she has typically ended up holding in our tree cutting photos and she felt it was breaking tradition....

Yeah those pics usually look something like this ....

So we thought we should keep with "tradition" and get another shot with the saw in its proper place;)

The girls have become accustomed to turning the tree hunt into a sledding excursion as well.  We were grateful for the warmer temps and sunny skies for sure, but the amount of green on the ground made us wonder if sledding was out of the question this time. 

It took some searching and trekking, but we did find some snow covered hills.....super deep snow covered hills:)

 The snow wasn't very conducive to thrilling rides, and it was so deep that climbing back up became a drag.

 They did get some good runs in before calling it quits.

{Kars catching some air}

 Emmrey was perfectly happy making snow angels:)

 The girls were anxious to get decorating.  Since the tree was dry and didn't need to thaw out before setting it up, we got right after it that evening.  Emmrey was all about sorting the ornaments so they could each put on there own special ones.

 We decorated while listening to Christmas tunes

At last she was ready in all her glory. It is amazing how much Christmas spirit a lit up tree can bring. There is something about it that changes the whole mood of our home. I love having it on whenever possible and just soaking in the sight and smell.  It is one of my favorite parts of the season:)