TIMBER...

Our 3rd Annual Christmas Tree Hunt and Cutting went on yesterday in the Hills on a VERY cold and windy afternoon! We are used to cutting one with my parents right after Thanksgiving, but things didn't work this year, and for once I was made to be flexible! Something I need to get used to after this baby is born, I do realize. So we made a flying trip to the Hills, and not knowing that we were going into a winter wonderland ended up taking a little longer than anticipated!

The place we go to is around the same area in the Hills every year, so while slowly watching the sun go farther west, and time ticking, we found a spot with a bunch of medium trees, let the girls out, and ventured down a trail of DEEP snow! We didn't realize how deep it was until Libby was the first one to run a ways and she pretty much disappeared into the snow! It was knee high and higher in spots on Nathan! The girls went nuts, and we were laughing so hard that the tears coming out of my eyes were freezing to my rosy red cheeks! I will add a bunch of pictures from yesterday, but in this first one we're standing on a trail, and Libby and Nathan look just alike! He was eyeing our tree that was a ways out there!

Nathan yelled "TIMBER" and down came the tree! To most of you, like MY DAD, the trees in the Hills look like Charlie Brown trees, but we absolutely love them year after year!

There goes the sun! We had to be out at the coldest point of the day. We got in the Explorer and it said 10 degrees, but with windchill it had to be in the negative. The wind was howling through that canyon like crazy! Well worth it though!

Here's the trail we walked! Libby and I decided that we want to live in a cabin in the Hills some day, it is so beautiful during the winter.

I love this picture because it shows how cold we are!! My eyes are like frozen shut, it was so hard to open with the wind! It's a fun tradition though!

Here is the finished project! We love our Charlie Brown trees, they are so us and so real! I got new Martha Stewart sparkle bulbs last year on sale, so this is the first year I get to use them! They are brown and gold, and then we made the garland last year, and the stars I got on sale at Cabelas. Simple but cute with all white lights!

We are leaving tomorrow for a goosehunting weekend 100 miles East of here at Shadehill! It's a kids hunt that Nathan and our friend Keith put together, but so far only 3-4 kids have signed up, so it's going to be an adult hunt also! Tom and Cullen are coming from Pierre, and we're all staying the the lodge over there. We're pretty excited, all the talk around here is goosehunting! The temps are really cold, which sounds like the rest of the Midwest is the same. I've hunted in some cold negative degree days before, but this time around being a week from 5 months pregnant, I need to remember to take it a little easy! Stay warm and have a good weekend!