Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, of all the trees most lovely.

I've been pondering Christmas family traditions now that Darrell and I officially have a family :-) All of my best holiday memories revolve around comforting rituals that I grew to love. The sight of the Christmas boxes coming into the house, Momma's cocoa and fudge, drinking orange juice out of fresh oranges through peppermint sticks, getting to see Tiffany and Lacey on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, desperately trying the find the Beloved Gingerbread Men Ornaments as soon as the ornament box came out and making sure the scent was still there, opening one gift on Christmas Eve, Daddy arriving on Christmas morning wearing a funny hat. I remember being so excited by the time it was finally bedtime on Christmas Eve that I couldn't sleep . . . long after Santa stopped coming down the imaginary chimney.

When is it that we begin to lose the wonder and anticipation of Christmas? I can hardly remember the last time I felt truly excited about the upcoming Christmas. The thought of those lost Christmases saddens me, now. Well, okay, except for last year. This time last year I was too busy willing labor not to start until 2010 to care what day it was.

Now Darrell and I get to create traditions for R to cherish. Of course, being the anal retentive person that I am, I have been busily researching Christmas traditions online, bookmarking sites with great ideas, jotting down recipes for possible treats, and overall stressing out about How I'm Supposed to Choose the Traditions R Will Love 30 Years Down the Road.

This is where my wonderful, easy-going, never in a hurry, drives me crazy with how s l o w l y h e m o v e s husband comes in. He makes one off-hand comment and the perfect Phillips tradition is born. We will cut our own Christmas tree!!!! Because he came up with the brilliant idea, my assignment was to find a place to acquire the tree. This led to an hour of research comparing the three tree farms closest to us, the types of trees each one offered, the fun "extras" at each farm and then a tangent of which tree is best for staying green, dropping fewer needles, holding heavier ornaments, having a better scent . . . you get the idea.

So, we ended up at The Kinsey Family Farm! I can't say enough about this wonderful haven of Christmas bliss. Hundreds and hundreds of gorgeous trees to choose from, free hot cocoa or apple cider, a cute ornament when you purchase a tree, and really great people. We had so much fun and R will have pictures and videos of the very first year we cut our own tree.



After Darrell cut down our tree, we got a tractor ride back to the barn! Our tree tagged along behind us.

The farm is humongous.




I saw this gorgeous scene as I left the farm. It made me glad I never moved to New York.

What I want most to show you in this post, I can't convey by words or pictures. I saw the lights from the tree reflected in R's eyes this morning as she gazed at her ~very first~ Christmas tree. At that moment, I would have found a way to give her the world if she had asked me for it.

My hope for all of us is that we rediscover the childlike innocence and wonder of Christmas.