Snowy Weekend

This weekend the two boys and I trekked up north to my parents' house to help my dad out on the tree farm.  We were going to help him unload the extra trees and greens when he came home from Minnesota on Saturday but when we woke up Saturday this is what we saw:

OK - maybe it's hard to tell but that would be my boys looking out the window at the falling snow.  Dad started out with the trailer but turned around and came home due to bad roads and worsening conditions.
Clark played in the snow, learned to make snowballs, built a snowman with mommy and helped grandpa out in the shop.

This will teach me to NOT forget to throw in the snow pants and boots when I head for home in the winter.  Luckily I did throw in the winter coats, hats and mittens.

The boys had lots of fun - especially playing with LEGOs - even grandpa got in on the fun!

Meanwhile, I decided I'd get a head start on the Tree Farm scrapbook.  Every year we try to take a picture of each person/family with their tree(s).  As you can see we have quite a collection of photos (3 full books).

All 200+ photos from the 2009 season are now preserved in a book.  We'll set these books out on the counter for people to look through.  Families seem to enjoy trying to find their photo from the previous year (or from multiple years).  The current year's photos are hung on bulletin boards and people try to pick out friends and relatives that have already picked out their Christmas Tree.

Our albums go back to 2000 (we were selling trees before that but this is when we started with photos).  It's fun to see families come back year after year.

Back in the day (ha!) we started with Polaroids!  We've now advanced to digital technology :)

I believe the best part of working on a the tree farm are the families that come back year after year to pick out something special for their Christmas celebration.  We've gained some wonderful friends along the way!  Some of the stories we hear each year are heart warming and sometimes make you want to cry or laugh or both.   It's amazing how much something as simple as a little tree can mean so much.

I know for some it's impossible to have a real tree in the home but if you do choose a real tree (or wreath) this year please support your local Christmas Tree Growers!

A little tip - if you're looking for real greens for decorating, you can usually (depends on the farm) find them cheaper at a tree farm than at a box store (and get larger quantities).  If you don't see greens laying around for sale or on the sale list ask one of the workers - I bet they have them since there are usually always trimmings around.