The BIG 3-0!!

One week ago today I entered a new decade! Wow, can I really be 30?! It just doesn't seem real! Time can play nasty tricks on us, I honestly can't be this old! Oh well, I'm still way young at heart!

To celebrate this big day we did something fun and memorable: cut down our Christmas tree! It's been a tradition in the past to get our Christmas tree on my birthday...but never like this! Usually we go to a tree farm and cut down our tree...but this time we went to the Manti La Sal National Forest and cut down our tree right from the mountains!
When Nate said there would be snow I didn't quite believe him that there would be THIS MUCH SNOW! I just have to chuckle thinking back to our experience and here's the story of the Christmas Tree 2010!

We drove up the mountains, past Scoville, and through the woods. When we arrived we put on all our snow gear to keep us warm. We couldn't find Mara's coat anywhere and finally realized somehow it was left home. So she used my liner and I wore my shell of my coat.

We started our trek up the mountain in search of the perfect tree. As we climbed higher the snow became more deep. It was hard to walk on top of the snow and we kept sinking down deeper until the snow was up past our knees.

It got harder and harder to walk in the snow. I tried carrying Caleb but Mara needed help too so then I tried helping Mara and holding Caleb but it just wasn't working! Nate could see the sun was going down and we were limited on time and we would never make it with all 3 kids up the mountain.

You can see our car there at the end of our hike. That is where we started! We really didn't get very far when I finally had to stop and hold both kids and wait for Nate to find the tree! I felt helpless holding two cold kids who couldn't walk or they would fall beneath the snow!

Caleb was quite the trooper! Although he was a little cold he thought this was a grand adventure and really didn't complain too much!

Mara on the other hand, well, let's just say this was the last smile we saw on her face until we got back to the car! She had had it! She was cold, and she couldn't walk in the snow, and she was tired, and tears just rolled off her cheeks!

By the time Nate climbed up the hill to where the trees were I didn't care what the tree looked like, it could be a Charly Brown tree for all I cared! This was hard work, and we still had to climb all the way down the mountain to our car!

Lucky for us we had a huge helper: TY! He came to the rescue and helped drag the tree back to the car for us so that Nate could carry Mara and I could carry Caleb!

Ty was quite strong to take the tree all that way. I think we would have had to leave the tree up the mountain had Ty not helped us out! He never complained one time either! He just did what was asked!

It turned out to be a beautiful tree! I was hoping it would be huge because we have nothing in our living room and I wanted the tree to take up the entire room....but then again Ty wouldn't have been able to drag that big of tree back to the car, so I think this really was the perfect tree!

My two mighty and strong heros of the day! Nate and Ty worked hard together to find mama the best birthday tree they could find!

While Nate and I tied the tree to the top of the car Ty played in the snow. Ty doesn't seem to feel cold! He could have played in the snow all day and night and still had a good time!

Ty had a fabulous time hiking and climbing snow banks! Although the mountains are full of snow our yard in Price has zero snow so Ty was loving the opportunity to play in the snow!

My favorite part of the night was coming home to Super-Delicious-Zuppa-Toscana soup. It was a potato soup recipe that Nate found and made in the crock pot.

Then Nate made me a delicious birthday cake Grandmas-Sour-Cream-Pound-Cake and the kids and I decorated the tree.

I feel very blessed to have such a great life with 3 happy beautiful kids and a wonderful husband! I guess being 30 isn't so bad---here's to 30 more years!