Giving Thanks and Trimming Trees

Thanksgiving was truly a time to give thanks this year.  We celebrated Andy's birthday the night before out to eat at Bill's Steakhouse with his family and my Uncle Jere.  Jere accompanied us home and stayed two nights so he could celebrate Thanksgiving with us.  I was hoping for a laid back holiday not one filled with too much stress of the hustle and bustle that the holidays often bring on.  It certainly was calm and relaxed.  I did a bit of cooking, but at my own leisurely pace.  John, Esther, and Jennifer came over Thanksgiving day to join us for dinner and brought the turkey with them.  We were surrounded by good food and good company.  Of course I did do a little sneaking out to find some deals at local stores, but it was a nice time with family.


On Friday, Andy's Aunt Doris and cousin Danny came for a visit.  They live in NY so we don't get to see them often enough.  The ladies did some shopping in Shipshewana, while the men and Olivia hit the distillery and lounged at Nana and Papa's house.  We had a wonderful time visiting and catching up.  Again too much food was consumed and my clothes aren't quite fitting like they should, but who's watching?

We also decided this would be the year our family would select our first ever real Christmas tree.  We headed out last Sunday to a place between Bronson and Colon where you just head out, find your own tree, and cut it down yourselves, which is of course what my macho outdoorsy husband wanted to do. 
 

The girls had fun trapsing through all the rows of various pines trying to select the perfect tree.  Mia always chose ones about her size and Olivia went the other extreme finding ones that would be perfect in a home with cathedral ceilings.
 

Finally, our perfect tree was agreed upon by the girls, and Olivia helped Andy saw her down.
 

Posing by our newly fallen tree.
 

Setting it up in a stand that would hold it steady proved to be the most challenging part for Andy and me.  She's finally up, filled with lights, some ribbon, and only a few select ornaments with family names on them.
 

Just because we got a real tree doesn't mean that the artificial tree is going to hide away all year.  We have many more ornaments to hang and a newly finished basement was the perfect spot for the tree.
Mia really got into helping hang ornaments this year.  She's proving to be my Christmas lover, asking for Christmas carols every month of the year.  I promised Olivia no Christmas carols during the summer, so I removed my Christmas CD from my car CD player on June 21st, and it was promptly put back in when the Autumn solstice came. 
 

Although Olivia is not seeming to share my passion for the Christmas season, she too got into decorating the tree.
 

Here she stands, almost completely decorated.  I think I'm missing a box of ornaments yet.  This weekend we hope to finish decorating the house to get us all in a festive mood, but our priorities our set.  So first priority is to see Santa today.  He makes his way to our town today at 4:00 PM and we will be there waiting as patiently as can be!