Erin is at the PERFECT age for Christmas.  She couldn’t be more excited for Santa to come and she’s full embraced the entire spirit of the season.  Her date night with me fell on Thanksgiving, so we had to improvise and go for a Friday after work date.
    We didn’t tell the family, but our plan was to go get the family Christmas tree.  We usually support out local Boy Scouts or the small farm down the road, but this year I wanted to give her a different experience.  I read up on a lot that was about 20 minutes away and had hot chocolate and cookies and 17 acres of trees to choose from.  Off we went, sly smiles on our faces hiding our little secret.  We played the Christmas station on the radio and sang along, counting the number of cars with trees on them as we got to Henry’s Tree Lot.
   Best laid plans…what a bust!  The lot was beautiful, we walked for about half an hour and didn’t find any that fit our needs.  Seemed they were all way too big or really small.  We stopped to asked a farm worker where we might find just the right kind and she pointed us to “the man who knows every
 tree on the lot”  I told him we were having a tough time and he asked what we were looking for.  Erin said “About 7 feet tall, bushy and green and it has to smell good”  We both waited eagerly for directions to our tree and he snickered a bit and replied “well, look around, they are everywhere”  Big sigh.  Not the answer we were needing after walking for half hour with no luck.  We found one (picture one) that was close, but just not tall enough and I really didn’t want to give a dime to this farm after being treated that way.  Back in the car we went.
     I knew there was a tree stand in Poulsbo, so we were going to head there when we saw a U-Cut sign.  Why not give it a try?  We pulled into Sawdust Hill Christmas Trees.  Looked super promising, again trees everywhere!  We were greeted with smiles and asked if we wanted hot chocolate (yes please!) and told to come find them if we needed help cutting the tree down or carrying it to the car.  I really wanted to find our tree there.  What an awesome place!  They did have the grandaddy of them all, Erin begged me to get it and it was only $100!  What a steal!  She didn’t care that it would literally take up the entire living room.  we did find one that was the right height, but it wasn’t so bushy. I really wanted to support them, but it just wasn’t the right fit.
     Off we went again, Christmas carols still playing, now two hot chocolates in the tank.  We made a quick stop at Olmstead’s but they weren’t set up fully yet and all the trees looked squished.  I couldn’t come home with a flat tree.  Into the car one last stop at the local tree farm.
   Wouldn’t you know, we pulled into the lot and Erin screamed “that’s the one, right in front of the car!”  I wasn’t sure if she was just tired of our adventure and ready to settle for any tree that wasn’t horrible or if she was truly happy with the one she saw.  I asked her to take a minute and walk around and look, and she did.  She came back 100% knowing that we were destined to have this exact tree.  We went in to pay and she got to pick out an ornament (a beautiful pewter one with hummingbirds) and we tied it up.  Amazing how I so intentionally tried to find something different when the perfect thing was 5 minutes from home.  All in all we had a wonderful afternoon together, one we won’t forget, and a beautiful tree now sitting in our living room waiting to decorated.  I do love this time of year and love that Erin and I share that.