Christmas Decorating

Back at “home” we cut down a fresh Christmas tree every year.  Even the year I had my broken ankle, I hobbled out into the field on crutches with Tom and the kids to pick out the perfect tree.  Sometimes it was snowing, and it was almost always cold!  We would walk around the field several times, “tagging” trees that looked like good possibilities, until we found the one that was “just right”.

It was a tradition that we all looked forward to every year, and one that none of us are ready to give up!  We knew it was going to be harder this year, but not as difficult as it turned out to be!

Being in southern Florida, we knew we weren’t going to be able to cut our own tree, but thought we would have several “Christmas Tree Tents” to choose from.  As it turns out, there were 2 that we found . . . and both were ridiculously expensive!

On our first trip out, we stopped at Walmart, where they had 1 (yes, 1!) tree left.  It was a 6’ frasier fir, already in a stand, originally priced at $30, but the manager said he would give it to us for $15, since it was a little spindly looking.  Nicolas wasn’t too thrilled with it, so we said we’d think about it while we shopped.  By the time we came back around to the garden center, it had been sold!  OK, so much for that one!

We went over to the one christmas tree tent that we had seen, only to find that they were not open until evening . . . OK, I guess we’ll try again tomorrow! 

The next afternoon we went back out, and decided to try Home Depot.  They had frasier firs also, starting at $33 for a 6’ tree.  Once again, we decided to think about it some more.  While driving around looking for a Big Lots to buy lights at, we found another tent.  Trees here were $60 and up, so Tom said “No way!”  Back to the first tent we had tried, they were open now, and their trees started around $50 for a 5’ frasier fir!  We were all starting to get a little discouraged!  I was ready to suggest that we just decorate the palm tree on our site!

Nicolas was determined, though, so after dinner we made one more trip to Home Depot.  We were shocked to see that the tent that had been full in the morning was almost empty of 6 – 7 foot trees!  We found one, though, had the guy unbind it, and said “We’ll take it!”  That’s it – it took all of 5 minutes to pick out a tree!  We got it back to the RV, and put it in our newly purchased stand, and that was it for the night!

It was a little tree (compared to what we’ve always had in the past), but Nicolas was happy!

The next morning, the boys got to work decorating it.

While they worked on the tree, I put up our stockings inside,

and a few Christmas quilts,

both inside and out.

When we were done with the decorating, it was time to make some cookies – gingerbread men and pizzelles.

Bryce helped with the frosting on the gingerbread men.

It took us longer than usual to get into the Christmas spirit (hard to get into it when it’s 80 degrees and sunny, and the beach is calling your name!), but it took us less time than usual to get our home decorated, so I guess it worked out OK!

The tree turned out pretty good!  Now I just need to do some shopping!