tips for cutting down your Christmas tree with your family
What are some of your favorite holiday traditions? One of mine is going to pick out and cut down a Christmas tree every year on the weekend after Thanksgiving. For many years now, we've gone to Francisco Farms in Greenville (technically Staunton, I guess) to get our tree. Since a lot of people are new to buying live trees, I thought you might need some help figuring out the best way to go about this process. So if you need some steps to follow, feel free to copy our Christmas-tree-buying-steps:
- Argue in the car about how it's going to be too dark to see the trees by the time you get there, because you left so late. (Or just leave earlier than we usually do to skip this step.)
- After parking, hurry to get a saw.
- Take a quick picture at the little wooden-Christmas-tree-with-a-cutout-for-your-head thing.
- Try to remember what kind of tree you had last year and whether or not you liked that kind.
- Find the right part of the farm that has the type of tree you want to get.
- Look over all the trees, running from one to another as you think you see a better one in the distance every time.
- Realize that the first good one you saw was the best one.
- Take a test picture to see if the tree is photogenic. (Really, that's my real secret to finding a great tree. ;) )
- Take a picture of your husband making a tough growling face while holding the saw up beside him. Then get your husband to take a picture of you with the kids, since you're never in any pictures with them.
- Watch your husband cut down the tree.
- Watch your husband carry your tree back to the car. It's most fun if he holds it straight above his head.
- Pay the nice Christmas tree people.
- Watch as your husband grabs some rope/twine/whatever-it's-called to tie the Christmas tree to the top of your car. Unless you have a truck...then that part of the process is much easier.
- Don't forget to grab your free ice cream cone coupon for Kline's (which we forgot this year. Waah!) and sign up to win a free turkey.
- Sit in the car, content and relaxed, relieved that everything went so smoothly.
- Halfway home, start to get a little stressed that the tree fell off the top of the car and you didn't notice. Turn the mirrors in the car to very strange angles to try to make sure the tree is still there.
- Ask your husband if he got the tree stand out yet, and try not to mention that you reminded him before you left.
- Watch your husband bring the Christmas tree in, tell him which way to turn it so none of the bare spots show, and show him which branches need to be cut off at the top/bottom.
- Turn on Christmas music and decorate the tree all by yourself, unless you can con the kids into helping this year. (After all, your husband DID do all that other tree work earlier).
- Sit on the couch with only the Christmas lights on*, cuddle with your family, and smile. Done. :) *Coffee and hot chocolate are an optional addition to the last step.