Christmas Tree Day

Last Saturday was Christmas tree day in our family! For the second year running, we made a day of it and headed to Homestead Farms in Walpole, NH. We LOVE getting a tree from this farm! 

First of all, it anything involves a horse-drawn wagon ride, sign me up! I am first in line! I am raising my hand! To me, it is just a priceless experience. Everyone queues up to get on the wagons and they take you down to the fields where the trees have been grown. And the search commences.

We were thrilled that there was just enough snow on the ground there (and surprised that we had more at our house) to make it really feel like winter and Christmas!

It never fails that when we step out of the wagon, we all express concern that the trees are so short. (Nothing but the one that comes close to the ceiling will do for our large collection of ornaments...not to mention our tall family.) But then, after meandering about in the field for a while, you realize that there are plenty of tall trees, and they all just seemed short initially because they are dwarfed by the oaks and maples standing sentry around the edges of the field. And in no time at all, we had found this year's tree!

The staff saws it down for you (yes, Colette yelled, "Timber!") and it gets hauled back to the wagon for the ride back up the hill. In the shop/bakery, the cheerful staff doles out complimentary, freshly-baked donuts and coffee and hot chocolate. It really is the BEST place!

We had a donut, and then we headed over to our favorite hot chocolate spot in New England...L.A. Burdick's. Prettiest, most festive chocolate shop around! Isn't everything just so decadently cozy? If you happen to stop in to this, or any of their other locations, I highly recommend a small hot chocolate, half milk- and half-dark chocolate. Velvety smooth and ooooh, so rich!

As always, the ribbons catch my eye.

Since we got such an early start, we missed the crowds at the tree farm AND we had time to get the lights on the tree and completely decorate it all in one day. A first for us.

I think doing it all in one day just may become a tradition!