Tree

When we moved to Oregon three years ago, we decided that it was time to invest in our local industry. We have cut down a fresh tree from a local tree farm on Mt Hood ever since! We go all out crazy hand saw style too. Usually that means Jon and one of the kids crawls under the tree while I pull from above. The other kids cheer from the sideline and worry about how it will fall.

We have a beautiful space where our stairs gently curve down right in the middle of our house. It begs for a huge gorgeous tree. Especially as it opens from the second story down.

This year, we went on the hunt with the idea in mind that we would look for a little bit smaller tree than we have chosen in the years past. I’m not sure that we really succeeded in ‘smaller’, but we think it is a really beautiful tree. It has a little bit of a Charlie Brownie top that is more apparent from certain angles!

Its so hard to visualize when you are on the farm!

Getting a nice picture is also a challenge! We just have so many goofy angles in our hime… I think this is the least Charlie Browniest looking angle. This is facing from the front door at the base of the steps.

It felt like most of the trees this year were either really big, like 2-3 times as tall as us, or really small, like a foot shorter than us. This one definitely seems a bit thinner than last year and the year before.

We also cut the bottom inch off this year when we got home. Consequently, the tree drank up water really well for the first week to week and a half. We noticed that there were few needles falling off too.

One of the troubles we ran into previously, was the width of our tree stand. I don’t remember which one, but the tree we brought home just barely fit! So we have learned a lot in three years!

This year we have had some trouble keeping some ornaments on the tree. They were slipping off so much, that one of my special candle bulbs fell and broke. I had been picking them up and trying to put them back on the tree, but a few days ago I decided to give up. Now I’m collecting fallen ornaments in a box every day.

I hope you enjoy our tree -virtually-!