Kiersen's Christmas in August Tree . . .

She's a girl that takes after me.  She loves Christmas and was excited when Hobby Lobby had their Christmas items out in August.  Up went the tree right away (no waiting), and she told me she's going to keep it up forever.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree . . .

It's my very favorite time of the year - the time when we set up the tree, bake cookies, watch Christmas movies and play Christmas music (oh wait . . . I guess I actually listen to music all 12 months of the year, don't I?!!?!?)  

O' Christmas Tree . . .

On Sunday we (finally) set up our Christmas tree.  We would've typically set it up about three weeks ago, but life has been so busy lately that we just haven't been able to find the time.  My house is still a mess because we're not done decorating, but at least we're making progress.  The kids are really excited about Christmas and the arrival of Klide, their elf.  On Wednesday they have a half day of school and we're heading to the candy shop to pick out their candy for their candy ribbons.  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

O' Christmas Tree . . . (The Search) . . .

So this year wasn't an 'ordinary' year for us Echternach's!  Typically we put up our tree the first weekend of November...not this year!  Kaiden wanted to see what it would be like to have a real tree (something I swore I'd never do again...but I guess some times we do things for our children that we never thought we would!)

I researched all kinds of tree farms trying to find the 'perfect' place for our 'experience'.  Finally I settled on Elizabeth Farms because it had sort of a Hallmark appeal (I mean - horse drawn rides....hot cocoa....Santa...the works).  But about a week after I decided on my perfect place people started telling me how busy it gets there (we mountain folks aren't fans of crowds)....so, we ended up not going to a tree farm at all.  Instead we gathered up the kids and a saw and headed to the mountain for a three hour tromp through the woods to find the 'perfect' tree.  In the end, we couldn't settle on just one, so we got a big one for Kaiden and a mini one for Kiersen.  They were both excited that they would have their own trees to decorate....and even though the trees are not perfectly shaped and we didn't get a ride on those horses, the kids still left with smiles on their faces.

Maybe this real tree thing isn't so bad after all....

Christmas Tree!

We started out with some 'issues'...

Here Kaiden is 'photo-bombing' Kiersen because he wanted me to take a picture of his missing TWO front teeth!

Kaiden loves the gold angels...he wouldn't let Kiersen hang even one!

Yesterday we put up our Christmas tree.  The kids were a lot of fun this year.  They were very helpful and it was neat to see them react to some of the ornaments.  Kiersen loved the ones she had made through the years, and Kaiden loved the gold angels my mom made for me when Kenny and I first got married.  The only thing I have to decorate is the railing (never fails....every year at least one of the light strands don't work!).  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at the Echternach house!