Toys for Trees

I love our realtor.  Honestly, the activities they put together are fun, and usually for a worthy cause.  A couple of years ago was a cruise on Lake Minnetonka, and then there was Toys for Trees last year.  We had so much fun then, and met some great friends, that we were excited to do it again.  I think this will be an activities we do every year now....our own little tradition.

This year, it was FREEEEZING.  Way too cold for a sleigh ride.....even inside it was still cold, as you could tell by Izzy keeping her hat AND coat on!

We met up with friends we met there last year, Sharon and James and their 3 kids.  We've gone out to dinner and drinks with them a couple of times, and always have a blast.  After we grabbed breakfast and visited, we headed outside to pick out our tree.  Last year I picked a wreath because we had our artificial Christmas tree, but we decided to try a real Christmas tree this year.  And honestly, I don't think we'll ever go back to a fake tree again.

It was a little nerve-wracking picking out a tree, since they were probably cut down a while ago and they're all wrapped up.  These things were frozen solid, but I picked out one of the tallest ones I could find.  They (Stafford Realty) do a great job of getting volunteers, and there were plenty of people to help, including someone to cut off the bottom end of the tree trunk.

Ahhhh...it just smelled so good outside....they had a fire outside, so combine that with the smell of a fresh pine tree in our car, and I was in heaven.  What a great way to start the holiday season!