Real or Fake? That is the question.

When I was a child, we had a fake tree. I remember pulling the pieces of the tree out of the cardboard box and organizing them by size. As soon as the stand was put together, we would start putting the branches in and fluffing them out. After mom strung the lights, we would all start decorating. It seemed to take forever to decorate the tree by the time we reminisced about Christmas' past and the stories behind special ornaments.

When I met my husband 9 years ago, I was introduced to the tradition of Christmas tree hunting and having a real tree. From the first time I went to the tree farm with my husband and his family, I have been a "real" tree person.



It is so much fun to walk around looking at all of the different trees in search of the perfect one. This tradition has become even more fun since we started our own family. Here are the kids looking for our tree:





This year we decided on a fir. After picking the perfect one, we took a photo opp before cutting her down.


The kids got right in there to watch as daddy cut down the tree.



After carrying it out and loading it into my in-laws truck, we had time for a little snack.


The next night we set the tree up, and after stringing the lights, the kids set to work decorating it with our collection of ornaments.


We have lots of Hallmark type ornaments related to major events in our lives over the past 10 years (marriage, first home, expecting, and children's first Christmas'), we have a few handmade ornaments featuring the kids handprints, and several from our own childhoods. The kids were so excited to help out, I resisted the urge to move ornaments up the tree from the bottome two branches until after the kids went to bed. They also loved looking at all of the different ornaments. I explained the stories behind some of the ornaments to the kids and also told them stories about their first Christmas'. It was the best part of the Holidays this year! And here is our finished tree:


So what kind of tree do you prefer?

I am linking to Kim at Newlywoodwards DIY Blog Party all about traditions.