A favorite Christmas Tradition

The Great Christmas Tree Hunt!

My cousin David and his sons Tyler and Benjamin with their beautiful Christmas tree treasures!

Here is Damon's amazing flight on a sled

Coulson, hangin out!

Lindy Lou, eating the snow pose

One of our very favorite traditions is going to the mountains to get our Christmas tree. It is made all the better by a tradition that started about 9 years ago, when we talked Dave and Tami and their sons Tyler and Benjamin to come stay at our house overnight, and make the trek with us. On our first attempt we had little kids and we attempted to have a weiner roast outside in the freezing cold. Their was wet mittens, spilled hot chocolate and grumpy moms to deal with, or I should say mom, I'll speak for myself. The tradition has evolved and now here is what it looks like:

Dave and Tami come Friday night, we snack, eat, laugh and eat and play cards to the wee hours of the morning. This year we enjoyed a fine performance of the men on the wii fit board at 1 am. When one of us can't seem to keep our eyes open, we finally decide that we should really go to bed.

The next morning we all blurry eyed eat a big breakfast and pack up the troops.

We drive to Cardston to meet our other cousins- Ryan and Tonya and their 4 kids and convoy up to the mountains.

This year we had a bit of a tragedy - One of Ryan and Tonya's little boys, Colby, on the first sled run of the day, split his head open on a metal post and had to be rushed to the Pincher creek hospital. Luckily Ryan is a doctor and acted fast to get him their and stitched up.

The men and sometimes the rest of us, tromp through the deep snow, looking for the perfect tree, searching high and low for one that will satisfy picky wives, get the okay, then chop it down and huff and puff their way down to the vehicles, trying not to have a heart attack in the process.

Here's the change in the tradition, the best idea we've had so far. Instead of having a weiner roast with crying children in the bitter cold, we then, pack up, head to Twin Butte to a Mexican restaurant in the middle of nowhere. We fill up on great food, in the nice warm shelter of the little restaurant.

We all go home, tired, happy and in the Christmas spirit. I love Christmas traditions - especially if they involve amazing, fun cousins in the process. Tyler and Benjamin are now teenagers - time flies, but hopefully we keep the tradition alive for years to come.

Birth Brothers

Here they are all together - l-r, Shane, Ryan, Miles and Jeff, Jeff is 9 years older than Ryan.

Shane and Coulson on the hike. Damon and Coulson with their "birth uncles"

Here are the boys by Cameron falls

All of our kids and Jeff with Mary, Ryan, Miles and Shane

Here is the blow me away picture, which is a little hard to tell by the genetic lack of hair by three out of 4! Jeff was kind of relieved that he wasn't the only one that was hair challenged!

Jeff is adopted, and a few years ago we met his birth mother Mary. He found out that he had 3 full blooded birth brothers. On the remembrance day long weekend we had the opportunity to meet them. There is definitely a family resemblance! We enjoyed giving them the tour of Cardston and our ranch. They also were good sports as we treated them to an old fashioned Waterton blow me away experience. We were behind the Prince of wales hotel and our van was literally rocking!! They did get out to brave a picture! We did find an enclosed camp kitchen for our weiner roast - it was almost warm! They are pretty hardy though, being from Winnepeg, Manitoba and all. Their winters put ours to shame. We did brave the weather and hike to Crandall lake. A fun time was had by all - even Mary who unselfishly volunteered to read in the van while Ty had his nap during the hike. It was nice to meet them all.

Hallowee'en stash

Halloween at our house this year was quite a candy frenzy! We had a "trunk or treat" at our church parking lot that was so fun. There was a great turn out - people opened their trunks and decorated them and gave out candy. Our kids kept saying that they needed another bag - little did I know that they were making the rounds 2 or 3 times! It was a pillow case year for sure! It was fun to dress up with the kids. A lady in our ward is so amazing - she just has a great knack for knowing how to serve people. ( She even came one time to help when I'd just had a baby and cleaned out under my kitchen sink - that is true compassion!) She went around the parking lot serving the parents homeade pizza buns and sugar cookies. She knew that the moms probably didn't have time to eat too much. When I grow up I want to be like June Nelson!

Our pictures aren't great, but give a little of the idea. The sun was coming from a funny angle, and for some strange reason, our camera seems to have the constant smudge of little fingers on the lense!