A CHRISTMAS TREE!

the first saturday in december is always my favorite. not because it’s december {well, that, too} but because as a family we go out to get our christmas tree! i am not sure when the tradition started, but as long as i can remember we all piled into the truck, blasted christmas music and felt like little kids as we made our way to the tree farm. now, i set up my own christmas tree about a week ago, because, well, i just couldn’t wait. and can you blame me?

so after i woke up from my cold induced sleep {come on, body, it’s almost gone!} and my brother got home from work, we all set out in the freezing cold to Galehouse Tree Farms in Doylestown, OH. this year it was my brother’s turn to pick out the tree, and while i am more for the biggest, fattest and most full tree, my brother loves the traditional triangle shape. and i think he picked the perfect one this year. it has already proven to bring memories into the Rhodes household because yesterday, it rained in our living room. it was so muddy outside that the tree was a little dirty. to clean it off, my dad had to spray it down. well, we may have brought it in a little too early out of excitement because it sounded like an actual rainfall as the droplets fell and soaked our carpet. all is well now, but that sure was interesting!

pictures, if you are wondering, were taken with my iphone and edited with the VSCOcam app.

^^^ except for the muddy ground, it was the perfect day for picking out our christmas tree.

^^^ one of the best parts of this farm is it has live reindeer. can’t help but think of the film, Prancer, when seeing them.

^^^ chopping down our own tree is always so exciting. although, someday, it would be cool to live in the city and go to a tree farm on the side of the street. looks so festive.

^^^ brave brother carrying to ginormous tree to the car. he may have almost fallen over but recovered pretty quickly.

^^^ the inside of the barn is beautiful! you can buy hot chocolate, hot cider and popcorn, sit by the fire and warm up by the fire from the cold. there are also some amazing christmas decorations, ornaments and treats in there as well.

^^^ zip was extra loveable on the way to the farm and home. i think he was happy to get to go pick out our tree!

the smallest christmas tree…

…is currently set up in my bedroom at the foot of my bed taking up the only remaining space i had left in my room. but it’s perfect and it reminds me of my grandma.

every year after thanksgiving, i would spend the weekend at my grandmas {it would take the whole weekend} to help her set up her Christmas decorations and Christmas tree. she wasn’t always a huge fan of the tree, seeing it as something that took a bit to take out, put together and put the ornaments on. but somehow, every year, it was so much fun.

we would watch Christmas movies on TV or listen to music as we unwrapped all of her decorations and set them out. every year she would joke how she needed to start throwing things away because she had too much stuff. she never did and she kept buying more ;)

^^^ a German family tradition. to hide the pickle and find it on Christmas eve.

this is the first holiday season without her. and it makes me sad a lot. when she passed away, i asked for her Christmas tree. not knowing where i could put it at the time, we put it up in the attic along with the ornaments.

of course, i missed the routine of setting it up and a few days ago, i decided to put it up.

opening the box, i got the biggest smile on my face. the smell of her and her apartment enveloped me and made my heart happy. i brought the tree up to my room and put it together. and i felt her there with me the entire time.