Pen Pals!

Dear Baby Waider + Little Brother Too,

Back in 2009 I met a new friend! Her name is Ms. JoLisa Hoover. We met while I was doing a Fellowship in Washington DC for the US Department of Education. I had known of Ms. Hoover because she was in the Fellowship the year before me and I had read her bio on the website. I was really excited to meet her because she seemed like a fabulous teacher. When we met each other we were immediate friends and decided that our classes just HAD to be pen pals. She taught fourth and me second. It was pretty perfect because the second graders thought the fourth graders were just SO COOL. Ms. Hoover and I had adventures in DC together and keep in really close touch so it is really fun to have our classes become friends too.

Here we are on our Segway Tour of Washington DC! The first is us with the Washington Monument in the background. The next is us in front of the US Capitol. The Segway tour was so much fun, but mama had a really hard time starting out!

Each year I get the opportunity to share one of our family traditions with Ms. Hoover's class. I get to share our adventure of getting our family Christmas tree. We just got our tree this past weekend and I am thrilled to share this trip with her students! The easiest way to share it is via this blog. So this post is for them, well and you too. This year we had snow, which has been the theme of this fall and winter. We had our first snow on October 4th. It. Was. Awful. I've shared information about that blizzard in a previous post. We got between 30-48 inches of snow. The winds gusted up to 70 mph. It destroyed many many trees in the area and they were pretty destroyed all over where we usually get our Christmas Tree.

These were a couple of trees that were damaged by the storm. As a side note, Grandma Halter does not like cutting a tree. She never has. So this year her and Grandpa Halter found a tree that had been ruined by the storm. They decided to take that tree and turn it into a Christmas tree. A pretty cool idea if you ask me. It isn't winning any beauty contests, but it is a cool story. They even named it Atlas, the same name as the blizzard. The poor tree probably thought that the blizzard ruined any chance it had of becoming a Christmas tree, but that was not true. Now it is covered in lights and beautiful ornaments. Not a bad send off for the old tree.

Back to the tree hunt. Like I said, this year we had snow! Which meant we had sledding, and lots of it.

The nephews have strider bikes that you can add skis to that they love. Notice in the last picture how Mia is in mid air. She loves to chase the sled riders! Especially your dad on a sled. Baby Waider and Cousin Harry took a bunch of trips down the hill together.

The reason we go into the forest each year at this time is to get a Christmas Tree! This year we didn't go far because it was chilly and we had Little Brother. We had everyone really bundled up, but starting out the temps were in the twenties with a cold wind. Thankfully we could be sheltered by the trees and it eventually warmed up to around 45. We found our family tree pretty close to the main trail. We followed the rules. It had to have a buddy. Meaning, the tree had to be by other trees that could grow up bigger and stronger if one of the trees was moved. Notice behind us is really a wall of trees. Our family tree came out of a bunch of approximately 15 crowded trees. This year our tree is probably one of the most beautiful trees we've had.

After we cut the tree we have to drag it back to the truck. Then we have snacks! Can you tell what Baby Waider had for a snack?

During snack Baby Waider had somewhat of a meltdown for many different reasons. Fortunately Grandma Halter was there to make her feel all better.

Little brother also had some sad times because he got hungry too! Also, dad dropped his hat in the snow so he had to use mama's!

Finn, however, was happy because he could stand and warm his hands by the portable heater!

After the snack we had more sledding until it was time to load up the trees and head home to decorate. I have always despised how the trees that we cut drop pine needles all over the place. It is a mess. When we bring it in the house it is difficult to handle, branches get broken, etc. This year dad got tree netting from a local nursery so that we could put in around our tree in the truck. It worked beautifully and I think it is a major reason our tree is so beautiful.

When we got home Baby Waider and Little Brother SLEPT and SLEPT. After everyone woke up we decorated the tree.

Lastly, Baby Waider and Little Brother love to lay under the Christmas tree and look at lights. I love our tree this year. I don't think I'll want to take it down.

Love,

Mama

P.S. Here are some other pics from the day.