I grew up in Southern California where we would travel to the nearest Christmas tree lot to get our tree. Now that I live in Colorado, I am so blessed to have the opportunity to go out and get my own tree. Cate’s parents gather all of us and purchase the permits from the forest service for Christmas trees. Not only do we get the chance to help the forest by thinning it out and preventing fires, but you also get to bring home a tree from the wilderness. And even better, it doesn’t cost $100!

This year we all went up to Pine Junction and enjoyed the extremely warm weather. It felt like 65! We searched high and low for the perfect tree for both our home and OMF. We found both and then enjoyed a delicious picnic. This was our third year on the annual Anderson tree cutting expedition and I love having it kick off our holiday season.

And here it is! The annual “Bryan is a man” photo!