It’s CHRISTMAS SEASON!
I haven’t really been a huge fan the past few years, but having Ryan and Yukon in my life makes the season a little better.
I was gone for most of the holiday season last year on a long-term work assignment, so it’s really nice to be physically here in Flagstaff for ALL of the holidays.
Ryan and I put up my shoddy little fake tree last year while I was home for Thanksgiving, but this year, I knew I wanted to get an actual tree.
So, earlier this month, I bought a Christmas tree permit from our forest, and this past Saturday, Ryan, Yukon and I spent a day down on the Mogollon Rim Ranger District picking out a tree.
We made a full day of it. We started off in Pine, Ariz., where we had wine and pizza — and I worked on some holiday knitting projects — at Old County Inn.
(If you’ve never been… go. It’s an absolute gem buried in a community of 1,700, with a full tap room and an incredible pizza menu.)
Then, we drove along the rim until we found a little overlook… and took our holiday card photos!
Sneak peek, you guys.
I’m actually THRILLED with how this turned out. We (I) propped my Canon 6D up on a tripod and set it on a 10-second timer. I spent about two minutes running back and forth to take photos before Yukon got too bored to cooperate. I only got six shots and one of them (above) was an absolute winner! Yukon COMPLETELY understood the assignment.
After that, we hopped back in Ryan’s Tacoma and continued driving until we got to the Christmas tree cutting area…
…and started searching.
Guys. It is SURPRISINGLY hard to find an ideal tree.
Most of the trees we found were either a. drought-stricken or sparse, b. actually two trees growing side-by-side, or c. splitting at the trunk.
Finally, after about five HOURS of bushwhacking through pine growth in various drainages, we (Ryan) found a winner.
Ironically, it was right on the side of the road.
He cut it down, loaded it up into his truck, and we headed back up to Flagstaff right as the sun started setting.
We caught the tail end of the sunset along Rim Road (Forest Road 300) which was a really nice surprise!
We pulled the tree inside once we got back to Flagstaff, and set it up in its tree stand.
Unsurprisingly, it was a little too big.
(I spent a good amount of time telling Ryan he couldn’t cut down a 20-foot Christmas tree. Did he listen? Absolutely not, no.)
We made it work, though!
We waited until the next day to decorate.
We got very festive for it. Yukon wore his Christmas jammies, I poured a glass of red wine and Ryan and I strung up the lights and hung ornaments.
We had to rearrange some furniture to make it work, but I love it! Ryan and I spent last night reading books (well, I was reading and knitting, Ryan was studying and playing “Call of Duty”), and listening to instrumental Christmas music with wine and cozy blankets.
I can’t wait to spend the next few weeks here in our happy holiday home!
Now we just need snow!
