Christmas Tree Hunting

We have the annual tradition of cutting down a tree.  It is a riot!  I grew up with an artificial tree since my sister has terrible allergies to real ones, but after I started dating Ryan (over 13 Christmases ago, gulp) I was able to go and cut down a tree with his family.  I absolutely love the Christmas season and this is a tradition that has formed so many great memories.  We start the day by getting breakfast as a family.  Ryan's mom and step-dad, his sister, her husband and their son along with us and our two girls.  We have gone to Big Boy for the past four years and always stop for a photo out front.

This year the weather was a little less than desirable, there was unexpected rain that settled over us as we ate breakfast.  Determined to get our tree, we pushed on, praying that the rain would stop. It wasn't looking good at all, the rain was coming down hard.  We pulled into the tree farm and the rain stopped!!  We then proceeded to bundle up and head into the barn so we could wait for the next wagon.  While we were waiting, Santa walked in the door.  Claire is a very loud and outgoing girl, around those she knows.  Around strangers, she is typically the exact opposite.  Apparently, Santa is not a stranger as she told him exactly what she wanted and sat on his lap for a picture.  Victory!

I didn't want to attempt to get Natalie out and back in, so she didn't sit with Santa - bad mom ;)

This tree farm we visit is awesome, they have horse drawn covered wagons that take you out to the acres of trees. They also have a wonderful selection of well pruned trees, which we were very thankful for since we were fighting the clock with the rain.  We were able to select trees in record time.  All Fraser Firs - our typical tree of choice.   

Claire liked this one best and we agreed!

Grandpa & Grandma

Uncle Justin, Aunt Jessica & Cameron

Then we headed back to the barn on the wagons and soon we were on our way home with our Christmas tree!  The worst part of getting a real tree is the prep work after you get it home.  I get so excited to decorate that I become impatient.  Both girls went down for naps, Ryan brought the tree inside and we were able to get the lights on it before they woke up.  

Claire was excited to hang a few ornaments, but got bored rather quickly.  We decided to finish the decorating after bedtime.  We had Christmas music playing in the background and a wonderful time together while we finished up the tree.

Natalie was intrigued the first day, but has since left the tree alone.  However, I am in no hurry to get any gifts under the tree since I know she's going to LOVE the sound of the paper.  For now, this is how it sits.  I love the nights were we are able to just let the light of the tree illuminate the house. 

Wordless Wednesday :: My Sister's Baby Shower

I am a little embarrassed that I don't have more photos from the baby shower!  I should have handed my camera off to someone else, because you really can't take photos during the shower when you're throwing it.

I know this is wordless Wednesday, but I'm going to break the rules since I have so many people to thank for helping make this shower for my sister such an awesome experience.  Words cannot thank you enough, but I have to try!  Thank you to my awesome mom who coordinated all the cooking, my cousin Jenny who helped with every last detail, my niece Dakota for helping set up, my mother in law for watching my girls so I could be helpful and my aunts, cousins and mother in law who so willingly jumped in to clean up!!  I have truly been blessed with an awesome family!!

The Candy Buffet (w/favor boxes)- Andria LOVES candy

Cakes that match the crib bedding, custom made by Lisa Suttorp

Claire enjoyed the candy before brunch :)

The loot :)

The beautiful mom to be opening gifts

The awesome book for Baby Boots that Jenny made (thanks Pinterest)

I am so excited for Baby Boots (not his/her real name!!  They don't know if they're having a boy or a girl, so Claire named the baby Boots) to arrive!  Only a couple weeks to go!!

Favorite Things {Black} Friday :: Shopping Finkbeiner Family Style

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!  We had a very nice day and will continue to celebrate the rest of the weekend with family :-)

This week I'm linking up with Jenny from The Sippy Cup Chronicles for the Favorite Thing Friday Blog Hop.

Like many brave souls out there, I went shopping today.  Thankfully, I didn't have to go alone (I hate being alone) and was accompanied by my mom, aunt and three cousins.  In years past, we had a very strategic plan detailed with items at each store and the time that the stores actually opened.  This year was different, since the majority of the stores we wanted to visit opened at Midnight.  So we made a plan, unsure of how long each stop would take since the lines would be unpredictable because we wouldn't be getting in line right away.  I went to bed at 9:15 last night with the alarm set for 11:00.  I woke up to the alarm began the process of getting dressed when Ryan came in to tell me that it was actually 11:35!  Shear panic set in, I had to pick up my two cousins before going to my mom's house to get her - this will all take 20 minutes under normal conditions.  That doesn't leave us much time to get in line at Target!  My cousins agree to meet me at my mom's to save a few minutes and we all pile into my mom's running vehicle and begin our journey to Target.  We get in line about a 1/8 mile away from the doors.  Midnight hits and we make the trek into the store. We got everything on our list and make it out in just under an hour!

Kristin stretching before we get to the doors

Then we went to Kohls where we again got everything on our list (and then some) and waited in line for 1.5 hours.  After Kohls we had some very strategic packing to do to make everything fit into my mom's vehicle.

In line about 45 minutes away from the checkout

Lindsay had to hold the stuff while we were moving the car so it didn't fall out until we could re-pack!

Love these girls!! Jenny (cousin), Lindsay (cousin), Sue (mom), Kristin (cousin),  Jane (aunt)

And the door shuts - success!

At this point it was about 3:30, and we were quickly losing spunk. Since none of the other stores that we were going to opened until 4:00 so we decided a pit stop for breakfast was in order.  We went to Ihop since our options were very limited.  We had  horrible service in general (it took almost 15 minutes to just get our waters), but the food was good.  It also gave us the opportunity to further plan our next stops.  We had a plan in hand as we ventured out.  However at this point, we were very tired and our enthusiasm for shopping had severely dwindled.  We made very quick stops for the gift essentials at Meijer and Sears before heading back to my mom's house to divide up our purchases.  Our Black Friday was a very successful day of shopping, hanging with some awesome ladies and lots of making friends in line!  I would expect nothing less from these gals :)

The backseat <3

We already can't wait for next year!!