Last year was the first time we really went searching for a Christmas tree as a family - we usually use artificial trees, and the one time that Tara & I went long ago we wound up getting sick from the tree! The kids really enjoyed the experience, though, so we set out to do it again this year. Although we weren't really sure when we would fit it in, Jayden urged us to go out on Sunday, November 25th to find the perfect specimen for our living room. Since we actually had a dusting of snow on the ground, we decided that it was a good chance to head out into the "woods" of Top Hill Farms in Goodrich.

    We planned ahead this year and bundled up before we headed out, which saved a lot of time when compared to attempting to get ready in the truck! As opposed to hauling a large wagon around to pull your tree with, Top Hill Farms drives you around on a "hay ride" with an empty wagon behind to put your tree on. We rode the wagon out to Shed #2 before beginning our trek into the woods to search for the perfect Christmas tree. The problem with looking for the perfect tree is that you can find one that is good, but you want to keep looking. If you don't find something better, you more than likely will never find the other one again! We did this a couple of times, but eventually managed to find one that we all like enough to cut down. Tyler wasn't interested in cutting it down this year, so both Drew and Samantha gave it a shot.It turned out to be a little bit of a challenge for them, so I pretty much finished it up. After the tree was down, we took a couple of family photos in front of it. We proceeded to haul our tree out to the roadway where we waited for the hay ride to return. From there it was a short ride back to the entrance, where we had our tree shook out (no bagging this year... the back of the truck was open, so there wasn't much sense in having it bagged) and paid our bill. Then it was time to drive home and let the tree settle a bit before attempting to set it up for Christmas!

Christmas Tree Search
	Drew, Samantha, Jayden, and Tyler on the hay ride out to the trees.
	Tara laughing as the kids goof around with each other.
	Tara, Drew, and Sam posing for a picture.
	Tara, Drew, and Jay posing for a picture (poor Drew just wanted a picture with his Mom, but his sisters kept creeping in on him - and the shots we got without them all turned out blurry thanks to the bumpy ride!).
	Tara and Jay sitting together for a picture.
	Jayden following Tara and Tyler through the trees.
	Tyler and Drew watching as Sam and Jay horse around.
	Sammie rolling down a hill.
	Jayden at the bottom of the hill.
	Drew starting his roll down the hill.
	Tyler, Jayden, Drew, Samantha, and her snowball posing for a picture in front of the tree that we all chose.
	Another shot of the kids, this time without the snowball.
	Drew, Rodney, and Samantha getting ready to saw down the tree.
	Drew trying to saw away while Sam looks on.
	Sam taking her turn sawing down the tree.
	Another look at Sam working the saw as Drew tries to give her some pointers.
	Drew watching as Jayden protects Sam's snowball.
	Tyler kept giving Sam a hard time about breaking her snowball while she was sawing down the tree.
	Sam watching as Rod makes the final cuts on the tree.
	Tyler, Drew, Rod, Jay, and Sam posing with the downed tree.
	Tyler couldn't help but make cheesy faces in all of the photos...
	...so Rodney gave him a look of his own for the last one (and Tyler had no idea until Tara showed him the picture later on!).