Monday, December 7, 2009

The mood is right .. The spirits up ..

OK SO if you know me at all, And since you're reading my "private" (ha) blog, you probably do .. you know that 2 things I loathe in life are the Beatles, and Christmas.  It seems only fitting, then, that the blog entry I have decided to dedicate TO Christmas, is entitled with a Paul McCartney song (and by way of definition, I loathe him too)

Each year, since Mike and I moved in together (with the exception of the year of the "perfect tree" - oh I'll blog about that too) we have gone to a tree farm, and chosen, then cut down our own Christmas Tree.

In the past, we've gone to "Conely Farm" off of Meaderboro Road, in Farmington - and their trees have been - GORGEOUS.  The perfect Christmas tree shape, color, smell - just perfect.  Last year, we had one of the HARDEST times finding "the perfect" tree there, so this year we vowed to try another place - even if we just went back to Conely next year - at least we tried some where new.

This is the tradition that I look forward to every year - getting there, choosing the perfect tree, watching Mike cut it down, packing in the truck, heading home - That part, it always gets me.  It's just us, and the trees, and the rest of  the world, the drama, the heartache, it all fades away for the hour or so we're there.  It truly is magic.

SO this year, we decided to go to DeMeritt Hill Farm, located in Lee, (In other words, the place we go Apple Picking) .. for their "Reason for the Season" Holiday Special.  I know I know - it's not HOLIDAY - but it kind of is.  let me explain (no, really, simmer, it's ok I will explain)

I loathe it so very much when people (or companies) say "Holiday" instead of Christmas, as if they're being LESS offensive by changing what we've known for years, and removing what is so important to a lot of people - not just removing Christ from Christmas, but by removing all those memories people have by greeting one another by saying "Merry Christmas" or having "Christmas Parties" or "Christmas Parades" or what have you.  IMO (I know, I have a lot of those) By removing MERRY CHRISTMAS from everything, you're alienating a GINORMOUS amount of people, you're pretty much saying their beliefs are offensive, and wrong, and unkind.  Which is SO not the case.  SO when I saw that DeMerrit Hill Farm was having a "Holiday Special" my hackles got a little raised.

Come to find out - It's totally about Christmas.  From start to finish.   Well - what Christmas means to ME anyway.

See, what you do is you book your hay ride (though, we had snow so that was neat, and - No Hay because of it!) and you get to ride in a wagon pulled by Santa himself, up to the Tree Lot, you pick your tree and either you, or Santa, can cut it down - it gets loaded into the wagon, and you get to go back to the little school house and listen to "Twas the Night Before Christmas" read by Mrs. Claus.  The kids (if there are any) get to pick out an ornament (which Emily already broke, ah kids), receive a candy cane, a cookie, and some fresh, home made hot apple cider (the adults get to have fresh baked home made apple donuts) ... you get a wreath to take home too!

We booked it, and had the best time yesterday.  Here are a few pictures from our journey:

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Emily on Our Personal Hay Ride with Santa ..

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The Man Himself ..

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Daddy & Emi, In Search of the Perfect Tree ..


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As per tradition, Daddy cut down the tree, while Santa Assisted ..

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A great way to warm up ..

 I was a little sad, that we didn't continue the tradition with Conely's Farm - however, I am glad we started this new one.  We'll most likely be back next year, because even if the tree isn't "The Perfect Shape" .. it's perfect because Emily chose it, and the fun we had getting it.

I also wanted to tell you about Emily's first time playing in the snow this year .. she was so excited,  had so much fun - and we barely had a dusting ..

Saturday it started to snow, then it started to snow harder, and finally, around 3pm, Emily decided it was time to play.  She got her hat, mittens, boots and coat, dragged them over to me and said "NOW Is it time to play in the snow momma?"  How can you say no to her?  I got her all bundled, and turned on all the Christmas lights, and out we all went.

She had the greatest time ever ... Laughing, squealing, running, throwing snow balls (well, fist fulls of little packed snow chunks ...) and my favorite, catching snow flakes.

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Now, while I DO Actually LOATHE Christmas, not really the holiday itself, but what it has turned into - I love our little family traditions, and each year we seem to start something new ... besides the Hayride and stuff with Santa, this year Emily and I baked sugar cookies .. from scratch (Photos to come!) ... and we all sat around after dinner watching "Home Alone" eating sugar cookies and drinking cocoa.  (thanks to Jessi we're going to have REAL cocoa soon!!)

From our family to yours, we hope you all enjoy your Christmas Season.   May your days be fun, your evenings even more fun, and your memories life long.

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2 comments:

Jessi said...

I love CHRISTmas and the Beatles, and although we disagree on that, I still LOVE you Amy.

This looks like a lot of fun. Cheers to new traditions!

Let me know how you like the cocoa.

Ess Gee said...

1. {{{Squidges}}} Ms. DivaPants
2. Merry Christmas!
3.{{{Squidges}} to my lil lambykins
4. it's the family traditions that make holidays special

5.meow