December Daily - Day 12

We packed so much Christmas into yesterday! It's Sissy's birthday today, so I must keep it short.

We did a bit of school in the morning, I ran to get groceries for Juliet's birthday and then we headed off to get a tree from a tree farm out in Boring.

Here is Sissy putting the angel on the tree.

We got a beautiful noble tree (which we have never got before because of price, but is my absolute FAVORITE).  This year was different than others in that (1) we found our tree in about five minutes, and (2) it wasn't 20 degrees. Normally it's a pretty big ordeal and normally it's below freezing.

Here is the crew trimming off some branches.

Sissy absolutely adores anything to do with decorating. She fusses over the tree all season long.

She put together the nativity set very carefully. I love the joy kids get from Christmas decorating.

Samuel and Jude woke up and immediately started wrapping/working on presents.

This was Jude reading from the Bible for school. This particular passage was about adultery and my kids didn't know what it was. Sigh. It was an educational moment.

Jude decorating the tree.

Boss showed up to the tree farm in working boots and a hard hat - he didn't want to get hit in the head by a falling tree. That kid is a character.

The owner of the tree farm took time to show the kids how many rings the tree had (thus revealing how old it was). Our tree was about 11 years old.

We started on our Christmas card wall. It's the first thing you see when you come in the house and I love that. The kids love looking at all the pictures as well.

Boss adored decorating the tree as well.

You can get an idea of his full outfit here.  He did some practice cuts on a stump when we first arrived.

Santa Boss. The kids had hot chocolate when we got home from getting our tree and the evidence was here on his face.

And we ended the evening with the Santa parade. It's a fleet of emergency vehicles with lights and sirens on that drive around our neighborhood collecting food and toys for the needy. We donated a new Frozen doll - Sissy longed for it but she handed it over happily when the time came.