Though many families have holiday traditions, I’ve always felt like our summertime was more steeped in tradition since that was camp time. We had opening day and final day, vespers and devotional, fiesta day, and many other smaller traditions. But, for the holidays, there isn’t one thing that we specifically do, except for tromping out in the woods and cutting our christmas tree. We usually eat a big meal and there’s lots of family time, so you don’t need to feel bad for us, I promise.
This past Saturday, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, my parents hosted the Rice family’s 20th annual christmas tree cutting party. Yep, you read that right, 20 years! They didn’t even stop hosting when they moved out of the Pecos Canyon!
Before they moved, friends and family (as many as 85 people and what always feels like just as many dogs) met at my parents house in the Pecos Canyon for food and drinks and then we all piled into our various high clearance vehicles and headed out into the National Forest to cut down Christmas trees, enjoy hot chocolate, and sled or have a snowball fight if there was snow. After the trees were cut, some folks would stop back at my parents house on their way down the canyon for another bowl of soup or a hot drink. Each year, it seemed we improved the experience…we figured out the best food to serve at the house, and what people preferred to eat on the mountain. We figured out how many tables we needed, how many cups, and what to ask people to bring.
This year, our 20th, was the second year of my parents not living in the Pecos Canyon and we’ve adapted nicely, I think…Now, people meet us at a local restaurant (special thanks to Brian and the rest of the staff at Frankie’s in Pecos) and enjoy cookies and coffee, and then we head into the national forest and cut our trees. We have a campfire for roasting hot dogs, two giant burners with hot soup and hot chocolate, several tables for people to set out whatever food they’ve chosen to bring to share, and coolers of beverages (yes, beer). Last year, our first without a home base in the canyon, people seemed a bit skeptical that the party would be a success…but it was! It was a huge success and this year was even better!
We had an especially fun time this year and planned to get a table top sized tree so the kids couldn’t reach it. You can see how well that worked out.
The kids LOVED being in the backpacks and tromping around with us while running into other friends and family up on the hill. They have not stopped talking about our Christmas tree and even (sort of) helped decorate it yesterday! Side note: explaining to a toddler that they can’t touch the lights on the tree is difficult…watching him smell them after you’ve told him not to touch is hilarious.
So, another year, and I’m so happy that my children are a part of this incredible tradition of gathering friends and family to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season by getting outside and enjoying the outdoors and the each other’s company!
More photos here.