The Young Family: Advent Season 2012 Kick-off

Advent Season 2012

We started off the season on a mission to find the perfect ~~Holiday~~ Christmas Tree :)

If you read about our last Christmas, you'd know that we purchased a fake tree.

It shines bright and proud (pre-lit!) in our front room.

And really, it's beautiful.

Perfect actually.

Because I'm team authentic, we also got a real tree... yes, I realize we had 2 trees this year. I still don't see the problem ;)

Anyway, we were on a hunt with my parents for the perfect tree for each house.

A true fantasy come true for me because Ethan is now at the perfect age to start appreciating experiences like this. The only problem?

It poured!

It poured so hard it was miserable.

Needless to say, my fantasy was rained out. And our tree hunt was postponed.

Fortunately Sweetie Pies in Placerville was still open and we still had a yummy lunch and delicious cookies.

Cute cookie monster

And... rainy days make for the best snuggles!

We did have a re-do the next weekend.

This time with Grandma and Grandpa Young.

It started with a running meet and greet (the only way Ethan does it with his G'mas & G'pas) and continued onto In & Out... I was diggin' the burger wrappers...

Then we were off to the Tree Farm!

Fantasy come true!

The pictures of Ethan running... that's what I was dreaming about :)

Joyfully running while on a mission....

And we found it!

Well actually, Dad found it...

We watched as the "cutter boy" sawed it down for us (great service!) and we yelled "Timber!"

Then E was off running again... after our tree :)

Mission complete.

We got a free train ride with the purchase of our tree :)

Santa drove the train...

Back home, we put up the tree!

Dad and Mark cut it down to size, strung up the lights, then Mom and I decorated it.

Ethan and Dad had a good time with their "halos"(plastic that holds the ornaments).
Ethan walked around saying, "Do not be afraid!"

The Christmas tree in the front of the house (artificial tree) is our nicely coordinated "designer" tree.

No fancy designer put it together, just Mark and me, but it coordinates nicely with the room...

This (real) tree is our casual, fun, and personalized tree.

Personalized because it holds the ornaments that Mark and I have given to each other each Christmas that we've been married.

So... up until this Christmas, we had 14 ornaments (7 each) for 7 Christmases married...

Last year I gave Mark the 3 Keys of Christmas for his ornament (3 in 1)

Each key has a meaning and it goes a little something like this, hit it!:

The first is the Shepherd's Key. It is to be hung on a low branch because Christ was born among the lowly - born beside the shepherds and the sheep.

The second is the Magi's Key. It is to be hung on a branch near the top of the tree - near the star, because the Magi followed the star to find the Light.

The third is the Christ Key. It is to be hung on a branch in the center of the tree - because Christ hung in the center - between you and me. And that is the key to Christmas.

Ethan got to help Daddy with the placement of the keys after he read each meaning.

This is absolutely what I had in mind when I got Mark the keys.

You see, each year we choose an ornament to give to each other that symbolizes something...

so it has to be thoughtful.

The symbolism behind this ornament is that Mark is actively leading his family as the spiritual head of our house.