A Jemez Christmas tree

Today we did our yearly tradition and drove into the Jemez Mountains for our Christmas Tree with our good friends. It was a beautiful day and although we didn't get any snow it was a great way to kick off our Christmas season!

We stopped at the ranger station to get purchase our ticket for getting a tree and were surprised with a vendor selling local honey who was giving out free cotton candy. 

This year we drove a ways up into the mountains looking for the perfect tree. There are numerous dirt roads that snake through the Jemez mountains and as long as you cut down in the approved areas you're good to go. 

Once we found a nice meadow to pull off into we decided to hike into the hills in search of the perfect tree (think Griswald's Family Christmas Vacation here). 

We finally found the perfect tree. It needed a little cutting down to size... but she was a beautiful. :) 

Elijah helped me cut the three down. 

After carrying the trees out of the mountains we had coco and gingerbread cake. What fun it was to be out in the middle of nowhere. 

We decorated the tree that night. 

Elijah used a toy claw to put on ornaments just to make it interesting.