Our Christmas Tree

Here is a little story from Christmas past... It was 1979 and winter had come to SandHollow, Idaho. the Lee Family and the Evans family moved to this out of the way place from Southern California during the summer. We had been used to cement, a lawn, palm trees and a lot of people. Not used to the farms, and wide open spaces we found in this new place. We felt a little like pioneer's.
Christmas was two weeks away when we decided to cut our own tree. Joe and Judy lived down the hill from us with their three kids, Shaun, Dana and Shane. Arney and I had Trevor, Cory and Jenny. Judy is Arney's baby sister and my dear friend. We woke early in the morning. I fixed hot chocolate to take on our trip to the mountains. We were going to find the perfect tree. Each family knowing just what they wanted.
We drove for awhile, snow getting deeper. We stopped at a lodge and bought the permits we needed to cut our trees. When I got out of the car ice cold air kissed my face.
This was a beautiful day, the sun on the snow made it look like diamonds. The sky so blue you felt like you could touch it. The lodge was a very old building. It smelled of old wood and the air was filled with the fragrance of food cooking. We stood close to the door and the cold air would rush in each time someone came in or out. I found myself wishing we could stay here just a little longer. The fire felt so good coming from the large fireplace. Our hands and faces were tingling from the heat. We all had pink cheeks.
We drove a long time before coming to where we could search for a tree. The cars were parked and out popped all the kids. With hand saw in hand Arney led his family one way and Joe went another direction. We crossed a stream running through the shimmering snow. It was so beautiful, it took my breath away. I don't know how far up the mountain we were when we saw this strong green tree with the branches bending down with snow. Full, fresh, tall and green. the kids watched as their Dad cut the tree down. Sad to take this object of beauty, but so happy it was ours. God must have known we needed a special tree. There would be very few gifts under this tree. But we were all together, it was always good when we were all together. We could hear the Lee's celebrating the tree they had found also. We were so excited, you could hear the laughter echoing through the tree's. The snow was so deep that it came up over my bottom sometimes. The little figures under stocking caps were our treasures, it was a very good day.
As we all carried our tree down the hillside we could hardly walk. The tree was so heavy and the snow so deep. We reached our cars and I took out that hot chocolate, it warmed us as we took our tree home.
We all made decorations from Christmas fabric, the new to add to the old. Judy's kitchen was filled with the sent of homemade cookies she and the kids were making. We all sang songs and made everything Merry and Bright. When I hear the song,"Ole Christmas Tree" I think of our first Christmas and that wonderful tree. Another memory of our time in SandHollow, Idaho.