There is just something about Christmas for me. WITHOUT question it is my favorite holiday for all the obvious reasons *cough* eggnog *cough* and the less obvious as well. I have always enjoyed the build up to Christmas day. Sure you can focus on the over commercialization of it and get all humbug and grouchy but the truth is, we vote with our wallets. We vote with our remote controls on our TV. We also vote with our time. Time for me is always the most precious commodity I can pay with but it is also the most rewarding. That is probably the biggest reason I take my family, every year, to Williams Tree Farm.

The beginning of December is always crazy busy for me, trying to wrap up the wedding season and balance everything else taking place is tough. To give up an afternoon with all the members our family free is tough but for us, its a requirement. It pulls me away from all the distractions of working at home, it pulls the boys away from toys, tv and video games, it pulls Michelle away from Christmas shopping, wrapping presents and the house and makes all of us slow down for one afternoon and just enjoy where we are at and who we are with. Sure, you could just hop in the car and buzz to the nearest shopping center lot and pick up a real tree from the Boyscouts (whom I greatly respect) and be home in less than 30 min and have a tree. There is just so much more to it than that though.

 

For us it become so much more than just a tree, need proof? Look at Jayden’s face as we are riding the tractor to the field to cut down our tree…

I can not even get him to focus on the camera, his attention span is nothing out here and I love that. My attention span is about zero too, more on that later though.

 

There is also the hunter/gatherer instinct that kicks in. Or maybe Christmas Vacation is one of my favorite holiday movies and I am trying to recreate the feeling of finding the “Griswold Family Christmas Tree” within myself.

 

No matter the feeling, the outcome is always the same. Between the golden retrievers, Santa, hot chocolate, Michelle harassing the wildlife, Tyler tripping over every stump you can imagine and me almost losing $4000 of camera gear….

Yup, you read that right. Take a look at this photograph Michelle took of me finishing the tree cutting after Tyler and Jayden gave it their best efforts.

See that camera bag in the upper corner, in that bag is a Canon 85mm f/1.2 II  and a Canon 24mm f/3.5 TS-E II, what are those? Just click the links and see. Weeeeellllllllllllllllllllll again, since I have no attention span, I left that camera bag there after we cut down the tree. After a mile and 20 min later, while sitting in the tractor on the ride back I realized it :/ So if you saw me running through the Christmas Trees at Williams Tree Farm Sunday afternoon, you now know why. Well I was lucky, our hunt for the Griswold Family Christmas Tree took us to a far corner of the tree farm where no mere mortals dare visit, so my bag was safe and sound. Almost like a gift waiting for me under the tree 😀

 

So enjoy the rest of the photographs from our visit to Williams and take some time and enjoy the build up to Christmas with your family. You will not regret it!

 

 

 

Thank you for sharing!

Do you know someone who would enjoy this post? You are more than welcome to share it with them!