Dad, I'm going to break out into hives it's so small.

I'm pretty sure all five of my loyal readers are not new to the day after Thanksgiving family outing. It's what we like to call legendary. 2009 and 2008 refreshers.

Mission: To make 2010 the Best.Christmas.Ever
Goal: Purchase the biggest Christmas tree we can find
Strategy: Convince Dad bigger really is better
Tactics: Smile, whine, make promises we can't keep, remind him how much he loves us, stomp our feet and promise to be good - all while being incredibly loud and adorable

George and Laurie joined us again this year. Plus Aunt Daphne was in town. And of course Grandma was there. That makes 11. Eleven people Christmas tree shopping.

This year we had a few new ideas about where to put our gigantic tree.

Option 1: Cut a hole in the ceiling. Wait, who's room is that? Oh, Mom and Dad's. Perfect. They can feel like they have two trees.
Option 2: The breakfast area in the kitchen has higher ceilings. Let's put it there. Oh there is a ceiling fan. No problem, we'll just move it.
Option 3: Let's just buy a bigger house.


This is serious business. Don't let Dad tell you he doesn't get into it.


Dad: I'm telling you it won't fit.
Samantha: Ew, it's so scrawny.
Caisa: No, it's not big enough.
Shannan: Best tree ever!
Kelli: It will totally fit!

We finally settle on a tree. and I will just say . . . Mission Accomplished. This is by far the biggest tree we've ever had. So big in fact we can all hide behind it.


So big it wouldn't fit through the front door. Luckily we have double doors on the back porch. Unfortunately the porch is one story up from the backyard. So the men carried it around back, attached a rope to it and told the sisters we wanted it and we had to pull it up. Funniest thing ever. That tree was so heavy. But we did it! We got it in the house and just like we wanted :) it consumes the living room. Perfection.

Oh and while George was laughing at us, he was also filming us on his phone. And then he emailed us this. If you've ever wished you could join us on this most perfect Christmas outing, here is your chance . . .

Oh and we're huge hams for the camera. No surprise there.