Thursday, December 9, 2010

Picking the "perfect" Christmas Tree


We've had our Christmas tree up for almost a week. And in our home, it takes a long time to find that perfect tree. If it was up to me, I would go to ONE Christmas tree lot and find a tree in less than ten minutes.

But when one goes Christmas tree shopping with RM and Moe- it is a very long, drawn out, arduous process.

And there are a series of tests that the tree must pass, before it is considered the "perfect Christmas tree."

The tree has to pass the "drop & shake" test. Moe shakes the tree and then pushes it to the ground and if it retains most of it's pine needles, then it's a good tree. This tree unfortunately did not pass the test.



If it passes the "shake & drop" test, then it goes through the "twist & turn" test- you twist and turn the tree to check for any imperfections.


The final test is the "durability" test. The tree is thrown to and fro between RM and Moe.

After going to several Christmas tree lots and putting many unfortunate trees through the battery of tests- the "perfect" Christmas tree could not be found.


Just when you think that the "perfect" Christmas tree isn't out there-it often can be found right in front of you.


It was love at first sight.
And this tree was spared from all the ridiculous tests.



It was a long day, but the tree needed to be trimmed. I cooked dinner and baked jelly rolls while RM and Moe took out all the decorations.


RM put on the lights and since Moe wanted the tree to have a certain look- he decorated the tree.

We've had Christmas traditions come and go in our family, but I'm glad that picking the "perfect" Christmas tree together as a family is still intact.


10 comments:

Stephanie said...

I love your pictures. The funny thing is that your boys look so small, but I guess that means that you have a really tall tree because both of them are so big! We're getting our tree tomorrow and maybe we'll try out a few of your techniques for finding our perfect tree! :)

Kristina P. said...

That does look like a pretty awesome tree.

Melinda said...

Makes me want a REAL Christmas tree so bad!! The tests sound good to me, and I love that Moe wanted to decorate it, thats awesome!

InWeighOverMyHead said...

sweet post :)

The Crazy Coxes said...

We used to go from lot to lot and I would pronounce each tree unworthy. It took forever. Now we have an artificial tree and my family likes me more!
Your tree looks beautiful and I bet it smells sooooo good!

Sue said...

Your tree is amazing, and so is your post. I just had to laugh out loud at the one with RM and Moe looking off in the distance while standing by 'the' tree!! It still makes me laugh! After our kids were gone, we used to go out and pick out the saddest tree...the one nobody else would want. Then, our challenge was to decorate it so none of the imperfections showed.

Unknown said...

Your tree is perfect! I love that you have this special tradition. The boys look so happy working on the tree. I love your family.

weavers said...

I can not believe how grown up MOE is!!! What a handsome guy!! We miss you guys:)

Emma said...

Your lucky the men in your life like to help you with the tree.. It does look like you got the perfect tree.

septembermom said...

A great choice! I love how you all get excited about the tree. It's one of my favorite parts of this season. All terrific pictures too.