Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

For those of you who haven't been to our new house yet, we have a vaulted 15 ft. ceiling in the family room.  I think before we even purchased the house, Kyle was dreaming of filling that room with a ginormous tree at Christmas time and boy did his dreams come true this year.

[Side Note: Holidays with Kyle's family are usually spent with his Mom's side of the clan, hosted at his Aunt Lori and Uncle Steve's place in Blair, Wisconsin.  They also have a vaulted ceiling and always have a huge and gorgeous tree decorated for the holidays ... so really, Kyle has had this dream for the last 10 years or so.]

We snuck out on Sunday morning after Thanksgiving, drove about 30 minutes West and cut down a beauty in Howard Lake, Minnesota.

Here we are searchin' ... note the Coach bag on my arm ... you can take the girl out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the girl ... ;)

This was Paisley's choice, but Kyle insisted on a 14 footer ...

 Here's the winner ... chopped ...

dragged ...

and thrown in the trailer.

If you're wondering, here's how you decorate a 14.5 foot Christmas tree ... with an 8 ft ladder.  Reminder for next year, put the topper on before the tree is up.  This one will have to go un-topped this year.

I fussed quite a bit about getting a tree this big, but I have to be honest, it really is gorgeous and has a special (and big) way of bringing the Christmas season to life.  Our Christmas list now includes ornaments as the tree is a bit sparse ... hint, hint...

Merry Christmas, from the Petersen Family.