Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree...

We successfully cut down and put up our Christmas tree this past weekend!  I grew up with the tradition of going to a tree farm, searching for that perfect tree (even if it took hours) and then cutting it down yourself (or rather watching my dad cut it down).  My family did it for years and years and then when I moved back home to my dad's after college, we started it up again!  Matt and I thought it'd be a great tradition to start in our own little family.  We found a tree farm about an hour south of the Springs in Pueblo and headed to check it out.  We brought Cooper along too...and he had an absolute blast.

This tree farm was a bit different from what I'm used to: it was owned by a family and was on their property, there seemed to be only one type of tree, and it didn't appear that they'd done much pruning of the trees as they grew.  However, the owners were incredibly kind, the prices were great, and you really can't beat cutting down your own tree.  There were even a few dogs there for Cooper to run around and play with!

Matt is ready to cut down a tree!

Cooper bounding down the aisles

It really didn't take us long at all to find a tree that we liked.  In fact, we found a couple different trees that were contenders pretty quickly and then had to narrow it down from there.

The winner!  

Matt was determined to cut it down himself...

And he did!

While we were busy tending to the tree, Cooper was busy trying to play with an adorable lab puppy...though the pup wasn't too sure about Coop. :)

The puppy is hiding between my legs from Cooper!

Later Saturday night we trimmed the tree and decked the halls!  It was so great to be able to decorate together since it was the first time we'd been able to do so.  We threw on some old school Christmas movies like the Grinch and then Rudolph, made some hot toddys, and embraced the Christmas spirit!  Here's some pictures of all the action:

Putting on the lights!

Just being silly

Time for ornaments!

The finishing touch, the star!

We don't have a fireplace mantle so we had
to find some other way to hang our stockings.

Whew, decorating takes it out of ya!

The finished product, in all its glory

We finally got the garland on the porch lit up too.

I'm so excited that our home is finally looking like Christmas!  :)

(PS-If you actually click on the pictures you'll be able to see them in a larger size.)