Oh, Chirstmas Tree!

Burch's Christmas Tree Lot

This year we went to Idaho for Thanksgiving to spend the holiday with Mike's family. On our drive home we had to stop in Riverdale (about 20 min. from home) and have a potty break. We drove past this adorable Christmas Tree Lot. Many years ago, before we had kids. I broke down and bought a "fake" Christmas Tree. At that time, live trees for a decent one, was about $85.00 for a 7' or 8' tree. So it seamed reasonable to spend $300.00 on a nice artificial tree that will last several years. Well, we've used it every year for 12 Christmas's and honestly I was dreading getting it out, re-wrapping all the light and having to fluff up all the wired branches. Anyway, I had heard before Thanksgiving that the last few years Christmas Tree Lots have really suffered from the economy with the last few years only selling 1/3 to 1/2 of their trees and that this year they were going to drop their prices and be competitive. As we sat in the parking lot just adjacent to the Christmas trees waiting for the kids to use the restroom, I was telling Mike what I saw on the news about the prices. He asked me if we should go check it out and see what they were going for. We wandered over and feel in love with the immediate smell of fresh cut trees. The kids were loving every minute. They had a real "rain deer" in a pen that they fed, carolers singing and found a great 8' tree for $40. We'll take it!

 We have loved this tree. Realizing that my children have never had a "real" Christmas tree before, kind-of made me sad. So, it was really fun to watch them decorate, water and come down stairs in the morning for breakfast and say things like, "umm... i love that smell." We just may have to do it again next year if there such a great price and leave our "other tree" downstairs for another year. Merry Christmas!