hey! we found one!

I think that hunting for the perfect Christmas tree is a fantastic holiday affair.

Some people go into the rugged wild - - donning snow boots and plaid flannel shirts, with their axes slung over their shoulders, sludging through the forest until they come upon the tree they have always dreamed of . . .

I think that's reeeaaaal niiiice.

Some people don't have a snowy forest in which to hunt for their perfect tree . . . so maybe they load the kids up into the minivan and drive to the local tree lot where, in the midst of cheery Christmas music and bright lights strung all around, they weave in and out of the hundreds of cut trees, spinning them all around to make sure that they pick just the right one.
I think that's nice too.

Our Christmas tree hunt this year included a trip to the local flower store (where we bought our tree four years ago), the grocery store down the road (where we bought our Christmas tree last year), the largest hardware store in the state of Navarra (certainly, they must have one!), and then finally to the Super grocery store across town;
and it was there that we found the trees - -
a collection of 20 of the pokiest variety you could imagine
all wrapped up tight with nets and twine and then tape (just to make sure no one could get a good look at the tree they were purchasing)
so Josu and Malachai and I chose the one with the nicest looking tip
and carried it, wincing and wining, back to the car

We had one entire day to recover from the hunt, and to confess our sins of complaining (Malachai) and of getting angry and impatient (me) and thank God for a thing like being able to actually find a silly tree

and then we decorated it, and it was the loveliest tree decorating event ever.
this may be because Joshua spent his morning off taking care of the kids so that I could sleep late, late, late. (that, my friends, is me being able to enjoy the fruit of a gospel transformed life!)