The day after Thanksgiving has become our day to seek and find the perfect Christmas tree.  Years ago I started the tradition of taking the kids to a Christmas tree farm. (When I was growing up my dad made sure every year our family had the joy of  having a REAL Christmas tree- it was important to him. We never had an artificial tree.) When my kids were very small, (the first year we moved to the Kansas City area,) we started going to a Christmas Tree Farm to seek out and find the perfect Christmas tree.  The first Christmas tree farm we ever went to was Tomahawk Pines, which at the time seemed to be far, far out of town. But developments encroached until houses were built all around it and then Tomahawk Pines disappeared…becoming a housing development.  We found another one further out, but it also succumbed to the same fate.  We found another one but it was difficult to get to…we went to that one only one (maybe two) times.  For the past few years we have gone to Bierman’s Christmas Tree farm which reopened after being closed for a number of years.

The irony of it all is we go to a Christmas Tree Farm, tromp around and look at the trees at the Christmas tree farm and then always buy one they have imported in (from somewhere like Minnesota).  And if it is really cold we don’t even tromp around that much…we just go to the “imported in” trees and pick out our tree.  Doesn’t really make sense, but I want a Frasier fir.  I like the look of Frasier Firs, I like the smell of Frasier Firs, I like the shape of the Frasier Fir (the Frasier Fir says “Christmas Tree” to me)….but Frasier Firs won’t grow in this area.  So why do we go to a Christmas Tree Farm??  Just because…that is the way I want to do it…I want to create the memories. Memories can be kept forever…

The lookout…to find the perfect tree…

 

Andrea, my sister, and her family always come and get their Christmas tree also:

 

Shaking out the tree:

 

The perfect Christmas Tree: