Happy Day After Thanksgiving 🦃! It’s one of our very favorite family days of the year!

The kids had a great time making Pilgrim cookies from these vintage cookie cutters yesterday! It was our first ever Thanksgiving celebrating with only our immediate family and I have to say it felt pretty liberating to be able to cook as I please without the stress of having to be ready at a certain time that is way too early for me, or worrying about the kids keeping the house spotless. I didn’t have to stress about planning & perfecting. It was very relaxed. I did miss gathering together with family & friends to give thanks though. I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving too.

We were SO excited to get our Christmas tree this morning at Berningers Christmas Tree Farm! It has definitely become our very, very Favorite Christmas Family Tradition!

It’s an experience like no other watching the kids run through the rows of Christmas Trees eagerly searching for the BEST one we can find. Last year we picked a big beautiful bushy one:

This year we went with a really tall, but more slender one! It barely fit in our living room – we had to cut the very top branches off. A star won’t fit this year, but we really prefer how high off of the ground it is. I really appreciate how high I can get the Ornaments I don’t want being touched while letting the kids place the rest at their height. I love the one we got so much!! 🎄

It was SO cold this year compared to last! We even got some beautiful snow Flakes coming down as we were there which made the experience that much better ❄️ but the kids were definitely grateful for some free hot cocoa & popcorn in the warm office before we headed home.

Each family also gets a free handmade ornament that the Berningers make each year to give out with the year engraved on the back. There is a little Wall of Ornaments Past that show the different ones they have made over the years. I wish I would have gotten a picture of it. This years was really cute.

My mom gave us chocolates from our favorite local chocolate shop that we happily snacked on while we decorated the tree & watched a couple of our favorite Christmas movies. I love the way the house smells like fresh pine & Thanksgiving Leftovers.

I took down the leaf 🍂 garland and used a fallen pine branch with a piece of our tree in the middle to create a garland to add to my kitchen sink window to give it a cozy winter feel. I added the pinecone in early Autumn to last until Spring. In the space above the pinecone I’ll be adding dried orange slices once we make those. I’ll be adding the remaining slices to our Christmas tree.

All Cut-Your-Own-Trees at Berningers Christmas Tree Farm are $52 no matter what size. Pre-cut Trees are priced accordingly. They shake & wrap all trees, and can drill the bottom upon request. Twine is provided for free & help is available loading onto vehicle. Tarps (and a very select few wagons) are available to pull tree from Farm back to office. A few hand saws are available to use, but it is strongly encouraged that your bring your own. No chain saws are permitted. Leashed dogs are welcome. They are open again tomorrow (November 30) & Sunday (December 1) and next weekend (December 7 & 8) from 9 am – 4 pm weather permitted.

This is definitely a Christmas tradition that our family is going to look forward to for the rest of our lives. 🎄

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov