I Give You the -------- Family Christmas Tree

Russ Griswald: Dad, didn't they invent Christmas tree lots so people don't have to drive way out to nowhere and waste a Saturday?



Clark W. Griswald: They invented'm , Russ, because people forgot how to have a fun, old-fashioned family Christmas and they're satisfied with scrawny, dead, overpriced trees with no special meaning.







This Christmas I had the idea of cutting down our Christmas tree from a Christmas tree farm while we were in Indiana for Thanksgiving. Larry hated my idea so we struck a deal. If I could get a tree for at least $20 cheaper, then we would get it in Indiana. So Larry priced a tree in Cool Springs: 7 foot tall tree for $80. I knew I could beat that.



So after Thanksgiving lunch we went to Aaron's Christmas Tree Farm in search of the Nesbitt family Christmas tree. I always did this with my family when I was younger and I would always pick out the biggest tree there. I thought I would let Reesi pick the tree out this year, but she picked out a 3 foot tall tree. I had to interject and I found a beautiful tree. Everyone argued that it was too big, but my dad stuck up for me and we ended up with a 10 foot tall tree for $40.



After about 30 minutes of tying it down we were ready to make the 150 mile trip. We got some funny stares driving down the Interstate, but luckily the tree stayed put and we made it home. Sunday, we invited Karen and Van over and made Karen string popcorn and cranberries all afternoon while we watched Christmas Vacation. Reesi worked all afternoon putting on ornaments and she even strung some cranberries. Even when we said the tree had plenty of ornaments Reesi would find some more and start working. It ended up just how I imagined and I couldn't be more pleased!

This was the tree Reesi wanted.

They were all too pokey for her.

Christmas tree shopping in her sparkley shoes.

We put the tree in a plastic bag, wrapped a sheet around it, and tied it on in every direction possible.

Hanging out during the long, extensive securing of the tree to the car.


Stringing cranberries.

Stringing cranberries with Meemaw

Reesi sorted the ornaments by color. She was so proud.

Notice the numerous times she changed outfits this day?

Putting on the star.

Isn't it a little big?

It's not big.

It's full.

Looks great. Little full. Lot of sap.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is officially over and we had a great time with all the family. We thanksgivinged from Thursday until Saturday. I ended up with 77 pictures and that's with my battery dying at Granny Nesbitt's and forgetting it on Saturday night. I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Grandpa and Grandma Galloway

Kendall shot a turkey and we all had to check it out.

Grace and Reesi eat Thanksgiving lunch.

The Turkey

Gassy Gus, Dad's birthday present. He also has star stickers on his forehead that Reesi was passing around to everyone.

Reesi helped make the pecan pie.

Larry's family

I made the stuffing this year for the first time and it was actually good!

Jeff was amazed at Reesi's ability to divert her eyes away from the camera every time!!

We all went on a walk after Thanksgiving dinner. Reesi is grouchy because Austin beat her in a race and ruined her Thanksgiving. She kept saying, "This is the worst Thanksgiving ever." She's a little dramatic.

Elf on the Floor

Hairy eared dwarf lemur even made it as a decoration.

Reesi worked so hard decorating her tree and singing Christmas carols the whole time.

Last night we put up Reesi's little tree in her room. We didn't have time to decorate it, other than the four ornaments Reesi made on her own, but Reesi absolutely loved it. This morning, however, she was begging to get out the decorations. I was already thinking how I will miss the days when a $20 tree could make her so excited.

We also got out our Elf on the Shelf, Eubie. Eubie decided it would be a great idea to hide in her tree overnight. The downside was this made Reesi wake up at the crack of dawn like it was Christmas day. She came down so excited and urging us to get out of bed right away and come see something. In her words, "You're not going to believe this." I knew I couldn't go back to sleep so I got up to see Eubie. Reesi then had the idea to bring the Christmas tree downstairs so we could look at Eubie all day. I carefully carried the tree down the stairs, but not careful enough. Eubie took a tumble down about four stairs. The problem with this is that you are not allowed to touch Eubie. So we had to go get a fork and scrap him onto a plate. We then put the plate under the tree waiting for him to climb back up on his own. Hopefully, Eubie won't tell Santa about this episode!

Saturday

Today, we convinced Larry to watch Reesi, Grace, and Lyla while Julie, Mom, and I went out for lunch. We took Mom to Cheesecake Factory and then Julie and I went to see Twilight while Mom headed home.

When I got home I had a couple more hours left so I pulled out the leftover supplies from necklaces I made with my kindergarten class. Reesi and Lyla worked hard for quite a while, but since Grace had already made one in her kindergarten class she was done pretty quick. Reesi made several necklaces and then took them apart because she couldn't quite decide what she wanted to do. She ended up with just a few beads on her necklace. All in all, it was a great start to my Thanksgiving vacation.

A Nice Peaceful Dinner

Last Friday night Reesi and I met Marilyn, Casey, and Jenna at Opry Mills. On the way out Reesi and I walked through the Aquarium Restaurant to look at the fish. I didn't realize that Reesi would love it so much. When I finally made her leave she cried so hard. So I talked Larry into going for lunch Sunday after church. It was the perfect time to go because it was not crowded and it is feeding time at 11:30. Our table was about five feet away from the gigantic tank of water and Reesi sat at the floor of it the whole time. We could barely make her come to the table to eat. This made for a peaceful, relaxing meal for Larry and I. At the end of the meal our waitress took her around and told her about all the fish. I think her favorites were the stingrays and the long nose guitar fish. Too bad it is a little pricey or we would eat here all the time!

Tag-You're It!

I've been tagged. The mission: choose the fourth picture from your fourth picture folder and tell four things about it. I had to choose two.

These are pictures from Halloween when Reesi was two. She had a black cat costume with a leotard and tights. However, she did not want to wear the tights, thus the fit. She refused to wear the tights and ended up as Cinderella.

1) Reesi is still very proactive in the clothes that she wears and we still experience situations similar to the one from Halloween.

2) She still loves cats and, in fact, her costume this year was a black cat.

3) I still take pictures of her when she is crying. Is that mean?

4) Her baby face is gone now:(

I tag anyone who is interested in being tagged, but I also tag Denielle and Marilyn because they need some encouragement to make another post on their blog.