This year for our annual Thanksgiving trip we got a cabin in the tiny town of Greer up in the White Mountains and the Apache Sitgreaves national forest. We had our Christmas tree cutting permit for that forest, and so we were ready for a weekend of feasting and finding the perfect tree.
The day we arrived it was nice and sunny. On Thanksgiving, we spent much of the day prepping for our turkey dinner. The kids helped bake pies, and Bryan fished in the little pond. It was super cold, but nice out, so we took a hike up the nearby creek.
But, by evening time snow starting falling! And it must’ve fallen most of the night since we woke up to a snowy Friday. It was the perfect weather for finding a Christmas tree. We drove over to the designated area and started tromping around through the woods looking for the perfect tree.
There were a few contenders, and we finally settled on a lovely light green fir. It’s not tough to agree on the perfect wild tree since there aren’t too many to pit from. We thought it was a bit tall, but things can be deceiving in the woods and we figured we could trim the bottom. Well, once it was on the car it was obviously a lot bigger than previous trees!
It was, of course, still within regulations, just too big for our family room. We ended up needing to put it in our front room – which was being used as a kids play and learning space. But, the tree fit perfectly! and it is really really gorgeous.
We have loved getting these wild cut trees every year we’ve lived in Arizona. But, we are moving away next year so I suppose the tradition will need to change a little. That’s something we are used too – modifying traditions and blending new ones – its essential for military families
