10 on 10 - December

I say it every month, and I'll say it again, this month FLEW by. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and we always host for lots of friends and family. This year was no exception. We had friends from the area and family from Oregon and Washington. My sister even came out from the 303 for two whole weeks. Needless to say, a good time was had by all.

Normally, our "Black Friday" tradition is to avoid all the crazy crowds and meander on up to tMt. Hood for some family snowshoeing. It's a good way to burn off all those extra carbs that I stuffed in my face the day before, and we usually end up with a pretty spectacular x-mas card photo. This year however, the mountain hasn't had much snow. It's been crazy cold, but not enough moisture, so we sadly had to forgo that option. Instead, we decided to get a jump on Christmas and go hunt down our tree.

I thought "tree hunting" would be a fun thing to post for my 10 on 10 this month because since many of you are visiting from around the country, I thought you'd like to see where some of your Christmas trees come from! One of the awesome things about Oregon is all the greenery. There are many farms all over the area growing grapes, veggies, nuts, and TREES! We chose to head over to the Helvetia Christmas Tree Farm just outside of the city to find the perfect tree, and of course since we were in the area, we ended the day with some wine at Helvetia Winery. Nabil's cousin Connor was in town from Seattle and had never cut down his own Christmas tree, so we decided to forgo the "modern conveniences" aka chainsaws and take this thing down the old fashioned way.

Of course, it always takes a little longer than expected, so Syd and I decided to wander around with the camera while the boys finished up...

And there you have it, a Christmas tree adventure at it's finest. Now that you have soaked up your monthly dose of Oregon, head on over to all the other 10 on 10ers to check out their monthly post. They promise to be fantastic, as always, so get excited.

Anya Elise Photography

CLB Creative

Twinty Photography
Jamilah Photography - Jamilah just had a baby boy (and by just, I really mean JUST; it was less than a week ago), so I doubt she's found the time to edit and post some photos. I left her link up there just incase. If not, I bet she'll have something good for you all next month :) Congrats again Jamilah!!

Christmas in Oregon 2011 begins

This Christmas season has been busy busy busy. Since we are spending the holiday at our house this year, and Mama Schilling is flying in, we have a lot to get ready for. Shopping, decorating, cooking, etc. The time is flying by, and there is barely any time left for important things like blogging or catching up on Pan Am with my home girl Brooke.

This weekend we had to get the tree. Can't have Christmas without a tree, right?! The past three years we have used our dinky little fake tree, but this year, since we are spending Christmas at the house, we decided to get a real, Oregon-grown tree. We even went out to the farm where we were able to cut it ourselves. 

How do you ever choose. There were so many trees!

...but then we found her. A Grand Fir beaut!

What a sweet manly man, cutting his wife down an x-mas tree.

seven years old?

Here she is at home, and all lit up. More pictures to come once all the decorations are finally up. ...but not until I finish the Christmas card.

Until next time...