Water Logged

A couple days ago while Dave was giving Hadleigh a bath he asked me to bring the camera and come into the bathroom. His chief concern was that we didn't have any naked pictures of Hadleigh standing up in the bath. So, I started snapping and this is what we got. She is so hilarious. She just loves bath time, loves the water and LOVES being with Dada. She especially likes it when we dump a cup full of water on her face.

Beyond All Measure

This past Sunday we sang a hymn written by Stuart Townsend named "How Deep the Father's Love for Us." Stuart Townsend also wrote the hymn "Before the Throne of God" which we sang at our wedding. Since Sunday I have been constantly singing this hymn, and last night sang Hadleigh to sleep with it.

How deep the Father's love for us.
How vast beyond all measure.
That He should give His only Son
to make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss,
the Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
bring many sons to glory.

Behold a Man upone the cross,
my sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
until it was accomplished.
His dying breath has brought me life.
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything:
no gifts, no pow'rs, no wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart;
His wounds have paid my ransom.

The Grand Ole Duke of York

Yesterday was our first day of swim class! There were three other moms in the class and the babies ranged in age from 6 months to a year. Hadleigh had a blast. Her favorite part was when we all sang "The Grand Ole Duke of York, he had ten thousand men..." We had to sing this while lunging across the pool and lifting the babies out of the water...good grief it was a bit difficult especially since I am short and so only my shoulders are out of the water. That made it easy to sqat (since I could only go down an inch), but difficult to lift her up out of the water. Hadleigh was the only girl, but didn't seem to mind all the attention from the boys. We can't wait until next week.

Betcha Didn't Know

...that the GA Aquarium is the largest in the world! All the Atlanta residents reading this are saying "duh", but I bet all my CA buds are very confused. What would a large aquarium be doing in a city that isn't remotely close the ocean? I am not exactly sure of the answer, but I will say that I am glad it is here because it is amazing.

Since we didn't get Hadleigh anything for Christmas (not like she knows any different since she was 9 months old at the time), we decided to get an annual pass to the aquarium. It basically pays for itself in 3 visits, so I figure if I go once a month I will more than pay for it. This past Saturday we headed down to the aquarium for our second visit.

Our first visit was the beginning of January and we went with Hadleigh's bud Sadie and her parents Paul and Lisa. It was pretty cool, but this time when we went Hadleigh was REALLY into it. She was screaming, reaching out to try to touch the fish, laughing, etc. It was pretty fun to see the change in her.

The other fun part of the day was that it was gorgeous outside, so we walked to Marta because we live about 5 minutes from a station, and then took the train downtown. I felt very European not having our car, and it was a gorgeous day, and the whole outing was a blast.

I do think that in March we will try to go mid-week, since it is jammed-packed like Disneyland in the summer. It just cannot be as crowded on a work/school day.

Chili's in Germany?

Did you know that Chili's opened a restaurant in Germany? Well, to be exact, the restaurant is on Ramstein Air Base, which is kind of America, but in Germany. It was a great little piece of home while we were there. We only lived about 45 minutes from Ramstein. This pic was taken last September when we celebrated Jan's birthday at Chili's. I found the pic while I was going through my inbox, missed my buds and decided to post it. The pic: me and Sara, Jessica, Jan and Beth

What Is So Wrong About Religion Anyway?

On my plane ride back to Atlanta from LA, I sat next to an older gentleman who is a pastor of a church in south Atlanta. He told me how "he found Jesus" and then talked at me for a long while about his church and finally asked me if I knew "him". He then said, "You see, I don't have a religion, I have a relationship." I have heard this said again and again, and if the dude had seemed remotely interested in anything I might have to say, I would have questioned him on it. Alas, he was more impressed with his own voice, than with mine.

Don't even get me started on his little tale of how "he found Jesus". Dude was so lost he couldn't see a hand in front of his face, but somehow he "found Jesus". Don't get me wrong, it was neat to hear his story and about his life, and it was neat that he took the opportunity to share with me. But had I not been a believer, I don't think his approach would have done anything for me. Even being a believer, his approach didn't do much for me.

What struck me, and has irritated me for a couple of weeks was that he said he had a relationship, NOT a religion. I have heard this said a lot, I remember it being said when I was in high school. I liked the saying back then, but now, it bugs the crap out of me. I get the idea...that it is personal. Unfortunately, God is so much more than personal. Salvation is about me in a sense, scripture is filled with references to how God chooses and saves. That is a very personal thing. Fortunately all of redemptive history did not begin and end with me. Redemptive history began with creation and will end when Jesus returns. I am a part of that, but not the only part.

Webster's definition of religion is: (1) the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance. OK, nothing wrong there. It also connotes traditions and an establishment or institution. I think this is where people get all bent out of shape, as if all religious traditions are empty and vain. Throw out the hymns, and the liturgy, anything that dates before the first Billy Graham crusade. I suppose if we were really to take this seriously we would stop baptism, and communion...oh wait, some churches have already done that. And I guess we will have to throw out church as well, because it is an institution and establishment, but wait that has been done as well.

What I should have said to that man was, you can keep your relationship and I will keep my religion. Christianity is about being part of redemptive history. I am connected to the church, historical and eternal. My relationship with Jesus is about me, but that is just a small, small part of it. It is about Jesus Christ saving and redeeming his bride, the church. The church began with Adam and continues to this day. We shouldn't throw out things because we think they might be empty rituals, we should admit our sin and ask God to speak to us in a new way through the traditions and instituions that he established and loves.

For Sar

1. What time is it? 7.07am.
2. Name? Ami Marguerite.
3. What are you most afraid of? Raising Hadleigh without Dave.
4. What do you drive? A '93 Buick LeSabre.
5. Have you ever seen a ghost? No.
6. Where were you born? Newport Beach, CA.
7. Ever been to Alaska? Soon.
8. Ever used toilet paper decorating in trees? Yes, but most recently TPed a car, as in about 5 years ago.
9. Croutons or Bacon bits? Croutons.
10. Favorite day of the week? I love Sundays!
11. Favorite restaurant: Ted's Montana Grill, yummy bison!
12. Favorite Flower: Hyacinths, Dave always buys me a hyacinth for V-Day.
13. Favorite sport to watch: I enjoy watching Tennis with Dave, and love going to a baseball game.
14, Favorite drink: Water, but if we are talking about alcoholic drink, then I love Cosmos.
15. Favorite Ice cream: Vanilla.
16. Disney or Warner Brothers: Disney.
7. Favorite fast food restaurant: I don't do fast food.
18. What color is your bedroom carpet? Hardwoods.
19. How many times you failed your driver's test? Zero.
20. Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail? Brea, she was telling me that Brennan can come to Hadleigh's birthday party in a couple of weeks.
21. What do you do most often when you are bored? Read or computer time.
22. Bedtime: Around 9 pm, we start the day early in our house.
26. Favorite tv show? Survivor, and Extreme Home Makeover.
27. Ford or chevy? I agree with Sar, neither, but if someone was giving one away I will take the Ford. Me, myself, I prefer Toyota.
28. What are you listening to right now? Hadleigh is playing and singing.
29. What are your favorite colors? Red and Green.
30. How many tattoos do you have? Zero.
31. Do you have any pets? Zero.
32. Which came first the chicken or the egg? Chicken.
33. What would you like to accomplish before you die? Travel the world.

Television 1994-2006

So, this post is going to go on a little trek through my TV habits over the last 12 years. You see last night Dave and I watched the season finale of Lost Season 2, and while I will talk about this later, I will just say for now, I wasn't happy.

In college, my show was ER. Thursday nights at 9.45 we would all make sure to be back on our hall, and would tear down to Elaine's room to see what Carter, or Susie, or Dr. Green or Dr. Ross would do that week. Way back then the show was actually about more than just who was sleeping with whom. Those were the days when you actually liked Mark Green and before Carter got weird. After graduation, somehow Er just lost my interest, and seemed to go downhill from there, though oddly enough, I just saw that the show is still on TV. Insane!

After college I took a little hiatus from TV, didn't have much time for it and was into other things, until...I moved in with Bif and Kris in 2001. They had their little group of shows they were into, so I jumped on the Survivor: Kenya bandwagon...go Ethan, and of course that was the first year of Alias, when Sydney Bristow had crazy hair, and we didn't know that "The Man" was really her mother, who was never killed in the first place. So, even after moving out, I was still hooked on those shows.

My new roomie Hoxter introduced my to 24, when the Season 1 discs came out. My other roomie, Sharon and I were addicted, and I think that I wastch the whole season in a weekend. I was hooked until the last episode, when Jack finally just went a little too far and, in my opinion, was unjustified in the actions he took against people. To, me he became dishonorable, and let his personal vendetta get in the way of correct moral decisions. This especially rings true to me today, when our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have to put their personal feelings aside, when they have to pick up someone who might have just killed their buddy. These soldiers are true heros...but Jack is just a little angry man. So, all to say after that season, I dumped 24.

Once we moved to Germany we stopped watching TV altogether. My bud Jess taped the end of Survivor Allstars and some Alias for me. And we lost touch of TV in general.

Last year right before Hadleigh was born Dave picked up Lost Season 1, and we spent a weekend watching it. I will have to say I liked parts, but wasn't overly hooked. Last night we watched the last episode of Season 2. I am going to refrain from commenting too much, though if you want to see an interesting Lost debate you can go to my bro's blog..."Dan and Karina" link above. I agree with pretty much everything he has to say. I am unimpressed...who the crap are the others? Why are their polar bears and horses on the island? What is it with the numbers? And is this just a lame comment on the state of religion?

So, all that to say, not much has changed in my TV viewing. I am still addicted to Survivor, everything else I can live without. I was happy to come back to America to catch the middle and end of Survivor Cook Islands, Yul was awesome, and now I can't wait to see what happens in Fiji.

11 Months

Hadleigh Claire turned 11 months old last week while we were in Cali. I can't believe that my baby is almost 1 year old!

She is doing all sorts of new tricks. As I mentioned before she is pulling up to standing, she is also great at peek-a-boo and waving hello, goodbye and good night. Dave taught her how to throw, so now she will throw an object and then put her arms up in the air, as if to ask "where did it go?" She is chattering up a storm and always has a new sound she is working on. She loves music and dancing and books.

She loves to be chased, and to be snuggled. In the mornings she comes into bed with me for about 30 minutes, she loves it when I knock her over. In fact this morning I wasn't knocking her over enough, so she picked up my hand and pushed it into her chest to knock her over.

She loves bath time with Dada. I am also thinking about taking her to a mommy-baby swim class.

As of yesterday she is fully weaned and we are looking forward to our new found freedom. It means a weekend away for Dave and I together and then in March I am going to attend Intown's women's retreat.

We are looking forward to celebrating her first birthday in just a couple weeks.

Cali Time

Last week HC and I had a surprise visit out to Cali. Dad's gallbladder decided to stop working, so he had emergency surgery 1/26. All seemed to go well, but afterwards he lost some mobility, and since it seemed like it was going to be a long recovery Hadleigh decided that we needed to go out to help Nana Patti and to cheer up Papa Froggy.

We had a great flight out there with an extra seat so that we could carry-on HC's carseat. She even had a good nap on the plane and was quiet the whole ride home from the airport. Here is a pic of her with her wings. God bless everyone out there who has ever helped a mom with a young child who is traveling alone. It is quite a feat getting through security and carrying everything onboard the plane, etc.

By the time we arrived Dad was home from the hospital and able to do some things on his own, but we spent the week cooking up some good food, like a huge pot of sloppy joes. I helped clean and organize a little so that Mom wasn't so behind and we just had fun hanging out.

While there HC decided it was time to pull herself up to standing, and impress Papa and Nana with her tricks.

Over the weekend Uncle Chris and Aunt Rubie drove up from the dessert to visit. HC just loves her Rubie and her Chris. We took her down to the park and she enjoyed playing in the swings, on the slide, and especially in the sand.

While out in Cali we also got to see Auntie Erica, and Sar and Annie, and Em. Unfortunately I only have a pick of Auntie Erica.

We made it home safely over this past weekend and are glad to be home with Dave.

Potty Time!

Here are some fun pix I took over the weekend. Dave gives Hadleigh her bath every night, and one thing he has noticed is that as soon as he turns the water to the bath on, HC pees. After some chastisement he now tells me when she pees on the bathroom rug so that I can wash it, but that is another story. He thought it would be a fun experiment to see if HC would pee on the toilet, so a week ago he took her diaper off, put her on the toilet and turned on the bath. Amazingly she went! Ever since that night he has put her on the toilet, and 6 out of 8 times she has gone.

We both think this is completely hilarious. HC just loves sitting on the toilet and likes the added attention Dave gives her if she actually goes.

The Undomestic Devil?

I have done some reading recently which has been fun. I feel like I took a break from reading while we moved and transitioned, and now I am back to it.

Two of my fun recent reads were The Devil Wears Prada and The Undomestic Goddess. Both were hilariously funny, and actually had similar themes. I'll have to say that I was really excited to read the Devil book, and then to watch the flick (which recently won a Golden Globe). Overall I was a little disappointed with how the book resolved, and the movie was just OK. If you have the choice, choose the book over the movie. The Devil is about a recent college grad, Andy, who desires to be a writer for the New Yorker, but in desperation takes a job as the second assistant for Miranda Priestly, editor-in-chief of Runway magazine, the top fashion mag in the country. The deal is that if Andy works for Miranda for a year and doesn't get fired, she will be able to get a top job anywhere (specifically at the New Yorker). The problem is that Andy essentially gives her life away, as working for Miranda requires being on call at every minute. After surviving almost a year and essentially losing almost everything she finally tells Miranda where to stuff it. In my opinion it wasn't soon enough.

The Goddess book was a lot of fun. This book follows Samantha, top lawyer at the largest firm in England. She is about to make partner when she royally fouls up a job and is fired. In a drunken stupor she winds up in a little English town in the country and interviews for the job of housekeeper and cook (of which she knows nothing). The rest of the book is devoted to her foibles of learning how to cook and clean, and leaving behind the fast paced life of work and "success".

Both were interesting and fun reads, and both seemed to comment on the rat race of the "civilized" western world. I will mention that both books are a bit crude, but if you enjoy a fun read like Bridgett Jones' Diary, then you will enjoy these books.

I am currently reading Presbyterian Creeds, yea, I know a completely different genre. I will write more on that when I have finished it. I think the title is kind of humorous. The title leads you to believe that these creeds are written by Presbyterians or something to that nature, but the book looks at the historic creeds that have shaped the theology of Reformers, specifically those who are Presbyterians.

To comment on the picture above, it obviously has no connection with the post. Hadleigh and I went to Piedmont a couple weeks ago to play some football. HC was a little irritated that I wouldn't let her play. She was showing me that she does have a game face.

Miss HC Goes to the Park

OK, HC has been to many parks, but this is the first time we took her to a park and let her play on the equipment. Saturday was a beautiful day and we couldn't let it pass without some time outside.

We usually run down to Piedmont when we have some time, but decided that to maximize Hadleigh's time at the park we should stick around here. She had a great time. She went down the slide, played in the wood (I guess wood chips now replace sand), swung in a big swing with Dada and a little swing by herself, and took a hike across a creek and through the woods.

Ten Months

Two weeks ago Hadleigh Claire turned 10 months. I cannot believe that my little baby is almost a year old! I think she continues to get more fun with each day she grows, and that makes each day with her a treasure.

She has mastered crawling, and is all over the house and into everything. She has begun to pull up onto her knees, but will rarely pull up to standing, although she seems to enjoy standing.

The pincher grab is a new trick, and she enjoys sitting in her high chair eating her string cheese and cheerios. This grab has also become highly useful to suck on and eat other yummy things that she finds on the floor. She especially likes crumbs, leaves, rocks, pennys, and worms. I vacuum the house everyday, but nonetheless I feel like she just goes behind the vacuum and picks up everything the vacuum did not get.

She has graduated to a convertible car seat, which I think is somewhat of a pain, but am getting used to it. Her baby car seat is still out in the dining room, as we have yet to put it away, but HC loves to play in it. She will stretch out with the top half of her body in the car seat and she enjoys pressing the seat belt release button. She could do that for hours on end.

Eating is one of her favorite activities. I am still nursing, but only half the time, the other half she gets soy formula because we think she has some sort of milk intolerance. We haven't noticed any reaction to other dairy products, just milk and ice cream. She continues to love yogurt, cottage cheese and string cheese. We think that we have caught a couple of allergies, one to melon, and one to peanut butter. We are still checking this out, and I plan to talk to the ped when we go in for her 1 year appt. For breakfast she generally has super porridge, which consists of oatmeal, lentils, egg yolk, sweet potatoe and green beans. For lunch she enjoys yogurt with peaches and ground up pumpkin seeds (she really liked yogurt with pb and banana until I noticed she was having a reaction). Dinner always is a mish-mash of whatever Dada can get his hands on...squash, carrots, apples, broccoli, etc. This month she is looking forward to trying whole grain pasta.

Bargains

I have been meaning to post for the past couple of weeks, but for some reason everytime I think of something to write about I never have the time. This has been a post in the making for a while. I havve been rather discouraged since arriving back in the US at how expensive food is. A few weeks ago I was making Bowtie Chicken Pasta and the recipe calls for pecans. I was horrified to find that a bag of pecans at Kroger cost $9.00. I mean, really, for a bag of pecans?

I knew that we were spoiled being in Germany. The produce was always inexpensive on the economy and we had the luxury of shopping at the commissary on post, so we were able to buy a lot of our food for super cheaper. I can't remember how much a bag of pecans in Germany cost, but I know it was less than $9.

Before we moved over to Germany I was a die-hard Publix shopper. I hated Kroger, refused to get one of their cards, and also to step foot inside one. Since being back I still have not completely reconciled my love-hate relationship with Kroger, but I do shop there weekly and I finally have one of those lame cards. In my opinion, the card doesn't save you much, it just gives them an opportunity to inflate costs for the unfortunate few who don't have a card. But anyway.

Before I left for Germany I heard about Coupon Mom and her little system, and since returning to the states, I have been committed to clipping coupons and buying sale items. It has been fun to see how much I have been saving, and now I am totally addicted. Last week Dave was home on Monday so I was able to go shopping alone and able to hit all three stores on my list. I had my lists of what to get at each store, and headed out. First I hit the Farmer's Market which is like produce heaven. All produce is about half the price of what it is at Kroger or Publix. I don't know why everyone doesn't shop there. It always makes me happy to load up on produce and pay $15.00 for a cart-full of fruits and veggies. Next I hit Publix for my main groceries, and it was so fun to pass their produce section and scoff at those shopping there. $1.39 for an avocado...ha...I paid $1.00 for 2 avocados at the FM. And now that I am so familiar with the grocery stores I can easily say $2.19 for a packet of yeast, I think I can get that cheaper at Kroger and I could! After Publix I hit Kroger for my last items, and then home. It was true that I found Kroger's yeast was $1.89 for a packet. I also noticed that the bag of coleslaw I was going to buy at Kroger was $2.79, but fortunately I had picked it up for $1.49 at the FM.

I came home in such a good mood telling Dave how much I had saved.

I am slowly getting this down to a science, and was able to hit all 3 stores with my list in hand and return home in less than 2 hours. And that even included running home for a minute to pick up something I forgot and bumping into my bud Christina at Publix. I never knew I could be a bargain shopper, but with a little planning and commitment, I am addicted.

Final disclaimer: While I do now tolerate Kroger, it is only a means to an end, I always will be a Publix girl at heart.

McNay Christmas

Before we drove up to Knoxville we had our family Christmas time together. It was tons of fun. We got up early and I made cinnamon coffee cake, and then we opened presents together. Hadleigh was hilarious about them. Dave cooked dinner for us which is tradition, roast duck with raspberry sauce, and butternut squash ravioli (which he made from scratch) with a tomato avocado cream sauce. To top it all off, we had a wonderful bottle of Italian wine.

Here is Hadleigh opening her present from Uncle Jim and Aunt KC. They sent her a little camo outfit that says "Old Ironside" which is Baumholder's nickname.

Hadleigh attacks a present.

Wow! Stacking blocks from Papa Froggy and Nana Patti! She was shaking these all day long.

She loves her new hat and mittens from cousin Matt. We found her later crawling around the house with the mittens in her mouth.

Her star cones from Papa and Nana made lots of fun noises that she enjoyed.

Great-Grandma Gladys Claire had a beautiful sweater made for Hadleigh. She played with that for a long while.

And, of course, we could not keep her away from the bubble wrap and tissue paper.

Christmas in Knoxville

For Christmas we were able to drive up to Knoxville and spend time with Dave's family. We had a good time celebrating with family and Hadleigh raked in some serious presents.Here is Hadleigh with Aunt Angie. Angie has dubbed Hadleigh "Princess", so that was the theme of our Christmas with them...everything Princess. Angie has three boys, so Hadleigh is the only girl in the fam.
Hadleigh enjoys having Grandpa give her bottle to her. Whenever she finishes eating she always looks a little drunk.

HC and Aunt KC

Yesterday Hadleigh Claire received a package from her Aunt KC. All of our presents have been sitting under the tree because HC doesn't seem too interested in harming or playing with the presents. This afternoon while we were playing in the living room, HC crawled over to the tree and picked up the present she received from Aunt KC and started playing with it and chewing on it. I thought it was so sweet, like she knew the present was from her special aunt.

The picture below is from our going away party in Germany, this was one of the last times HC saw Aunt KC.

Thinking about Germany

It is now a few days before Christmas, and now more than ever my thoughts are in Germany. I miss life there!

Here are just a few things that I miss.

1. All of our friends.

2. Reformation Sunday

3. Our small chapel service

4. Being able to drive to France just for kicks

5. Christmas markets

6. Slower paced life

7. Snow

I know that if we were back in Baumholder I would probably wish to here, the grass is always greener. But I so enjoyed spending Christmas in Germany, it was simpler over there. There is so much hub-bub over here regarding Christmas...can you find the right gift and the best gift, and the right sale. It is kind of irritating. I enjoy being able to focus on the season of advent, and it seems here in America all that is faded to nothing. Life during advent here is all busyness...life during advent in Germany is quiet and peaceful.

I am posting a couple of pictures of our friends Jon, Sara and Ellie, and Grant and Jessica. Jon and Grant were both in Iraq for Christmas last year and just returned home before Thanksgiving. Both Sara and Jess were part of the women's ministry that I led this past year. As well, they were in our community group. We are so thrilled to know that so many of our friends will be able to spend this Christmas as a complete family.

Making Cookies

These pics are a couple of weeks old. My good buds Bif and Kris were moving, so I had their 2 older children, Alex and Zack over to make cookies one afternoon. I lived with them a couple of different times. The first time I moved in I was in the room across the hall from Alex. She was so excited that I was living there that she sat in her doorway (she was supposed to be sleeping) and watched me unpack boxes.

Alex was the flowergirl at our wedding three years ago. Here is a pic.

Anyway, we had a great time cutting out and decorating the sugar cookies. Alex and Zack are so creative, we made up all sorts of stories about the cookies we decorated. After decorating we played cards.

Here is Zack playing with Hadleigh.

Ode to My Washer and Dryer

Last Friday my life changed dramatically. After living for 139 weeks without my own washer and dryer, and because of the good will of our buds Bif and Kris we are now the proud owners of a WD.

Ever since we moved to Germany I have been doing our wash at the laundromat. This was a relatively good set-up because I could get 8 loads all washed, dried and folded in a 2 hour time period. However, once Hadleigh came into the picture the laundromat was far from ideal. I would have a bucket full of Borax sitting around the house so that I could soak her poop stained clothes buying me precious time to get to the L.

Monday morning Hadleigh woke up from a good night's rest and when I went to get her I found she was soaked. Her diaper had leaked all over the place. Have no fear! I was able to strip her and the bed, wash and dry everything and have her all set-up before her mid-morning nap. Yea!!!!!

I am throwing away my rolls of quarters, this is the best thing that has happened to me since we unpacked our kitchenaid mixer.

Photo Shoot

A few days ago we met up with John, Brea and Brennan at Henderson Park to take some Christmas pictures. We had great fun trying to get the babes to pay attention to the camera. We brought Hadleigh's favorite little bear with us. The best part of the time was seeing John waving bear in a million different directions trying to Hadleigh's attention.

Miss Hadleigh Claire Meets Santa

Christmas Trees in Georgia

For the last two years we have purchased our Christmas tree at a local tree farm about a mile from our house. The farmer charged 5 euro ($6) for you to come and chop down one of his trees. If he wasn't out at the farm you would just drop the money in his mailbox.

The first year we went was a beautiful day, but freezing cold. Last year it had just snowed 18 inches and it was sleeting when we picked out our tree. You can read about that story in the December 2005 archive.

Today we went up near the Mall of Georgia to a tree farm. They have some nice trees, and provide saws and free hot cider! We had a good time, but it just didn't feel like we should be cutting down a Christmas tree since we were wearing short sleeves. I guess it doesn't usually snow 18 inches over Thanksgiving in Georgia. So, maybe this year we traded snow for price because our tree cost a bit more than $6.