O Tannenbaum

I knew I definitely wanted a Christmas tree for Elliot's first Christmas, but we didn't want to spend the money on one and we'll be gone for a week to Boise to celebrate Christmas with Andrea's family before Elliot's Nan (my mom) comes here for our Christmas, so it seemed like a waste to buy one and just let it dry out. So my brilliant idea was to go up to Mt. Tabor, the beautiful forested park that we live at the bottom of, and gather some branches to "build" a Christmas tree. Well... it's either been too cold or too wet or we've been too sick. There's been no going up Tabor for us for a while now. So I decided to be creative with what I had in my own back yard... a big, beautiful tree and some hedge clippers.

I chopped down some branches and brought them inside. I was sure they would make a great tree. Elliot loved exploring them.
I put a box over a bucket of water.

I cut a whole in a box.
I put the tree in the box.
We decorated the tree.
This one used to belong to my grandparents, Nana and Bapa.
And this is an angel from Nan that we used to top our tree.

And here it is... Elliot's first Christmas tree! The picture doesn't do it justice (I can't wait until Santa Nan brings our new camera!). It is really very sweet. It smells yummy and looks pretty and even has a present under it already. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!