On the first Saturday of December, on an absolutely gorgeous day (who could have predicted that 60+-degree sunny day? SO LUCKY!) we headed down to Washington, MO to cut our own Christmas tree.

It's such a cute tree farm, and we left our coats back in the car and enjoyed every minute of our outing-- from searching for the perfect tree to treating ourselves to cookies (and hot cocoa for Noah, the crazy kid. SIXTY DEGREES OUTSIDE.), and watching the tree farm workers put the trees onto the jiggly machine and through the net thingy... The whole thing was just perfection. 

We ended our outing back in the riverfront town of Washington at Cowan's, a local mom and pop restaurant famous for their mile-high pie, for a good lunch before heading home to get started on setting up the tree. 

Here are the "big camera" photos from our day. Enjoy seeing a bit of what we enjoyed on our trip to Heritage Valley Tree Farm. 

Merry Christmas From Us!

First, here's our Christmas card this year....featuring photos from big cameras and phone cameras, and the talents of my friends Erin Duggin and Kate Benson. I love how in nine photos, it tells our year's story pretty well. 

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Second, here are photos from earlier this month, with the help of Erin Duggin again. It was a happy day in early December, and we headed to go pick out our fresh fir tree right after this little minisession.

 

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Third, I had time and a wild hair yesterday, so I wrangled my four (four?! Four!!) kids into some quick, "come as you are, except let's add a hat" Christmas snaps. I'm so delighted with what we got. They're cute, they're real, they're basic, and they are TOTALLY THEM right this moment. 

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Merry Christmas, my beloveds. If you're reading this, trust me: I cherish you. Feel free to leave a comment even if you are a lurker coming out of the woodwork. I'd love to wish you a specific and personal happy new year. Here's to the year that grew Larkin and completed our family. Onward to new ideas and fresh plans for 2017. Much love from us!! 

Cut-Your-Own Christmas Trees!

 Yesterday, we had a gorgeous December morning and we headed about an hour away to Heritage Valley Tree Farm to cut our own tree. I think this might be the first time we've cut our own since we've been married. Certainly since having our kids! It felt like a perfect year to attempt it-- the kids are a great age to listen, to enjoy it, and to even help a little. And we really did luck out on the weather! Originally, we'd planned to go get a tree the day after thanksgiving. But that entire weekend was gloomy, grey, chilly, and WET. this weekend was sunny and beautiful, with only a little chill in the air. We had a blast running around the trees and looking for the perfect one. 

Without further ado, here are the photos from our morning at the tree farm. 1. Hooray for some Big Camera photos! 2. Hooray that my new lens (85mm 1.8) was partly what inspired me to get out the camera to shoot. 3. Hooray for a pretty day and cute cute kids at a cute cute tree farm!

Up ahead this week: I need to start making three kids' tee pees for their Christmas gifts . I need to get dowels or poles for them, too. We want to go see Santa at our Bass Pro tomorrow. I have three sessions I need to edit and deliver to clients. I pick up my parents from the airport as they return from a trip to Hawaii. I want to finish putting up Christmas stuff so I can take my tubs/boxes back downstairs. I have various appointments and random things on my to-do list.... And I need to try not to spend random money just because something is cute or food to-go is more convenient. 

What's up ahead for your week? Happy things? Christmas is starting to sink in over here... Noah even asked if he could hang his old baseball sock on the mantle for Old Mai, so he is feeling the warm fuzzy giving feelings of Christmas, which helps me with my own. ♥  How sweet is that boy? 

So happy new week to you! I'm ready for it!