Christmas Tree Chop!

There's a beautiful, virtually untouched area of land called Santiago Canyon that is just within the foothills beyond our city. We discovered it just after moving to the area and have enjoyed taking drives through the windy 2 lane roads. The tiny town of Silverado that sits hidden in those hills reminds both of us of Murdo, or some other small town where life slows down and people wave to each other. It's a cool place to visit when you want to drive 15 minutes and feel like you're completely away in a different part of the country. This year, we decided to go to a Christmas Tree Farm there where they advertise you can cut your own tree down. It was a beautiful evening and we were so happy it was actually cold enough for warm jackets!! I mean, it felt like Christmas for cryin out loud!! :) Here's Gavin looking out among the young trees and the canyon beyond.

We found our tree!! And we were surprised to learn that it was actually cheaper than buying a tree from Oregon brought down to one of our local stores.

It was dark and my flash wasn't working by the time we got to actually chop this guy down, but the boys all held the saw and in no time, Kyle was exclaiming, "Tiiimberrr!!"

We hit up Silverado Cafe to warm up with some hot chocolate and dinner.

Kyle was so happy and proud of our tree. :)

Back at home, one of the neighbors brought snow back from one of the local snowboarding events where a snowblower had been brought in to make snow. The neighborhood kids LOVED sledding down their little snowbank on sleds, shovels and snowboards.

Daddy pushed Kyle over and over and over again. :)

It was a fun night for these CA boys.