Tree Mishaps

It was a great idea. We pulled off the dirt path that lead to my mom's land in east Texas. I was so excited as I looked at all the trees, imagining them in my yard. And one special tree in our house, decorated with our hand-picked ornaments. Each one representing a different memory.

Kind of a wild tree, but it had a good shape at this point.

We chose four trees- 2 Sweet Gum, 2 Pine Trees. Dug them up, put them in buckets to transport home. And then we went searching the woods for the perfect Christmas tree. After a bit, I saw it-*the* tree. I could hear the Hallelujah Chorus singing, just like the Griswalds in "Christmas Vacation." I couldn't wait to put up our own special tree!

This is right before he dropped the ornament and it shattered into oblivion.

So we trimmed the branches; it was a bit wild looking. We hung ornaments. We broke ornaments. The branches sagged a little under the weight of the lights. We watched "Elf" while we decorated, and Ted made fudge. The perfect evening with our perfect tree.

Timmy was so excited to add the star on top.

Before bed, I noticed something wrong. The tree had fallen over. More broken ornaments and sagging branches. No problem, we fixed it up. Propped some magazines under the base just in case it happened again.

The next day, it fell over yet again. More broken ornaments. Now we had a gaping hole in the front where branches had drooped. All the lights sagged to the bottom of the tree. It was only December 3. I didn't think our tree was going to survive the holidays. My 3 year old even told me, "Papaw has a better tree than ours. His star isn't falling, and he doesn't have a whole in his tree." Sigh.

This picture doesn't really capture the crazy mess it had become!

We told some friends about our misadventures in tree hunting, and they laughed with us. A few years back, they had cut down a tree in the woods and happily decorated it in their house. But the next day they saw big black splotches covering the walls and furniture- spiders!! Man, I was glad that at least we didn't bring home any "friends."

Our lovely new, sturdy tree!

A few days later our friends called. They had won a free tree and were bringing it over! So we took down our sad treasure and put the new tree in its place. I decorated it without the kids "helping." No more broken ornaments or sagging limbs. Tree mishap fixed.

Beautiful Oregon

My in-laws recently moved from Dallas to Portland, so we went for a visit. It's hard to believe places like that really exist, the exquisite beauty of water and mountains and huge trees.

Ted and I decided we need to live next to the ocean.

Gorgeous flowers were everywhere. These were at a local park.

We couldn't believe how big even the fruit was in Oregon.

This is the view from Garry & Rachel's living room window. Sigh.

Rachel & Garry with their "babies," next to a community garden. I wish we had one here!

Their house- just kidding! I saw this in the woods and had to take a picture. I'm not sure where I'm going to use it in my art, but I just love the crumbling structure.

We had a picnic lunch in a little park off the beaten path.

After lunch, we walked on the trail nearby. It was like stepping back in time.

Suddenly a curve in the trail revealed this waterfall!

Ted wanted to get in, but I wouldn't let him. I'm a stick-in-the-mud, I know.

Multnomah Falls is breathtaking.

At the bottom of the falls.

We took a trip down the coast and stopped by these amazing trees. They don't grow this tall in Texas!

Our view when we looked up.

It was pretty chilly there- a welcome relief from 100+ degree days in Texas!

This is the 250-300 year old "Octopus Tree."

Did I mention we want to move to Oregon?...

It seemed like everywhere we looked was picture perfect.

Some of the cliffs we passed along the way.

Needless to say, I can't wait to go back!