Prologue

This year we decided to go up to King Trees and put a tag on the tree we wanted.  Sometime in October we marked the tree.  When our busy schedule finally eased, we loaded up the Jeep and took a ride up to cut the tree.  Like every other year, we made tracks to the tree.  This year we did not go four-wheeling on the way - the Jeep had been parked and just like last year, it was not the time to chance that we'd get stuck in the woods...

Trail

This year the tree we picked was in a section much closer to the house.  It didn't take long for us to get there and find the tree again.  Ted is holding up the metal tag that we put on the tree with our name.

I took the saw out of the Jeep and we cut the tree down.  In many ways, this is the easy part of the job.  And we have found that the tree being this fresh, really makes a big difference.  It also is a great deal.  Bill King is a great guy and we love coming here every year.

The fun part is getting the tree to the Jeep.  Even more fun is putting it up on the roof rack!  The boys are getting big so they really helped a lot this time.

Epilogue

There's not much to say about driving home with the tree.  We listened to Christmas music and soon were home.  We left the tree on the Jeep, swapped vehicles and got the kids to their activities.  When we got back from that. I took the tree down, cut the bottom off level, put the tree in the stand, and then Ted and I huffed it into the house.

Don't let anyone tell you that decorating a 10-foot tall tree is a quick job.  But we really enjoy the end result.  This year I tried to be a little more "design" conscious and used red, white, and gold tree ornaments, and tried to space them fairly evenly.  Then we put the traditional items on including a host of Santa's that Maria loves.

Meanwhile, Maria did an incredible job decorating the house.  I spent a few days photographing the various things she did.  Some of the pictures were shot with a lens that makes everything look soft and nostalgic.  All the pictures can be clicked to see a bigger version!  Enjoy!