The Other Big Event This Weekend

Attending a Christmas parade on Friday night and having Josiah's choir concert on Saturday night and again on Sunday afternoon just wasn't enough excitement for us this weekend.  No, on top of all of that, we had to go to our favorite tree farm and get our Christmas tree, too.  ;-) 

Actually, if there had been any other time to get it, I would have much preferred to not cram that activity into this busy weekend; but as it turned out, there didn't seem to be any other feasible time, so on our way home from a church service yesterday morning, we swung by the farm and participated in what has become for our family a cherished holiday tradition.  

First, the walk up the big, big hill...

Not surprisingly, Josiah and David raced ahead, Tobin and Jeff followed at a fairly quick pace, and Shav and I brought up the tail of the procession.  In the picture below, I love how Tobin is turning around to see where we are.  We were way behind him (much further back than it appears here because, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I could zoom in on him to see his expression).  :)

When Shav and I finally got to the top, I saw David and took a picture of him.  I'm not exactly sure what he was thinking, but it's likely it was something along the lines of "I don't really want to stand here for this picture, so please stop so I can go search for the candy cane tree."  :)

So I let him, and he and Josiah dashed off to find it.

It would have been nice if I had followed so that I could take a picture of it or something, but laziness (or common sense, take your pick) prevailed, and I stayed where I was.

It wasn't a total loss though.  At least I got to take pictures...

...of Shav...

...and of the two of us together.  :)

At that point, I didn't even know what part of the field Jeff was in; but after a while, I saw him coming, his little shadow Tobin tagging along behind.  We always get two trees--one for our house and one for Jeff's barbershop--and when I saw Jeff here, he had already cut one tree down but was indecisive about which other one to get.  One of the secrets to a great marriage, I've discovered, is to, by all means, NOT be picky about which Christmas tree to get.  There's more to having a great marriage than just this, but it's not a bad place to start.  ;-)  So when Jeff said, "I don't know which one to get," I quickly pointed to one and said, "How about this one?"  "That one?" he asked, "Are you sure?"  "Well, OK, maybe not that one," I replied, then nearly as quickly pointed to another one close by.  "But this one looks fine to me."  :)

With that, he dropped to the ground and almost faster than I could raise the camera to snap a picture, he had cut it down.  Mission accomplished.

One of the friendly employees was driving around with a cart, so he took both our trees back down the hill and Jeff went with a very excited Josiah and David to see the famous candy cane tree that they had finally found.  Once again, I stayed behind.  I really did a lot of standing still during our adventure there.  ;-)

Then it was time to head down the hill...

...to visit the old springhouse, drink hot chocolate, and get free ornaments.

I admired the view of two of my boys walking along with their daddy, then I stopped to take a picture of Shav and I...

...well...our shadows, that is.  :)

I also paused on the descent to gratefully notice that the people who run the farm were kindly strapping our trees onto the roof of our van for us.  In years past, we've gone to get our tree on a Wednesday, which is convenient because Jeff is off work and there are not very many people at the farm; but during the week, buying a tree there is a self-service operation.  This trip convinced me of the pleasure of going on a weekend when employees are there to help, and they happen to be very friendly, which makes it all the nicer.  :)

Right before we left, we had to stop and take a picture outside the springhouse.  Jeff helped to get the boys arranged...

...then I started snapping pictures.

But the sun was so bright that it was impossible to get a great photo there.  I knew the boys were having trouble even looking at me because of the glare, so in a moment of inspiration, I said, "Everybody look at the willow tree!" which was away from the sun.  So they started to...

...and then David decided that would be a good time to drink some more hot chocolate.  Thanks, David.  I was really hoping to get a great picture...of that cup!  ;-)

The picture didn't turn out quite like I had hoped.  (But neither did Emily's of her sisters.)  ;-)

Oh well, that didn't stop the boys from enjoying their candy canes...

...which we let them eat BEFORE LUNCH!  :)  (And no, I don't know how Tobin got that scratch on his nose.  He happened to wake up with it one morning recently.)

As we neared our home, we saw a buggy...

 ...and ya know, it's crazy.  For as many years as I've lived here, you'd think I'd be used to buggies by now.

I am, I suppose; but I still get a little excited every time I see one.

I love this part of our local culture.  

A welcoming, familiar tree farm and horse-drawn Old Order Mennonites - just two of the things that make life in the Valley so special!  :)