The Perfect Tree

Well, after doing a lot of research on line, I finally came to the conclusion that we would not be continuing our annual tradition of going to the Christmas tree farm and cutting down our own tree. The trees just take too long to grow up here in Colorado. I did find one u-cut place within a 2 hour radius, but they were only open on the weekends, which just doesn't work for us. I just couldn't bring myself to go buy one out of a parking lot stand. So, we took the hour drive to the mountain, to a place that looked quaint.

It was a nice drive, the roads were the worst on our driveway. We saw a herd of probably over 20 elk on both edges of the road. They were huge!

We passed a wildlife refuge with buffalo

and these. I'm not positive what kind of animals they are.

It was fun to see all the wildlife.

They had just received a fresh shipment of trees. So, we found our favorite, Douglas Fir, in no time.

The kids had fun checking out the decorations.

The iced over stream was also a hit.

We had a fun time making new traditions. Now to decorate it. I have to say, putting the lights on, is not my favorite chore. I'm too much of a perfectionist!

Our water heater got fixed this morning. I never realized how much I took hot or warm water for granted. With the last 3 nights in the teens, we could have all used a hot shower/bath. We kept going to wash our hands, forgetting we had no hot water, and we were greeted with icy coldness. I'll be happy to not be boiling water all day! We are very thankful to have the basics again. Even more thankful it was under warranty still. After googling my problem, I was a little disconcerted that the first hit was a site with hundreds of complaints about this same problem with this same water heater. Many complaints about whirlpool's customer service and the fact that they seemed to be still selling the same water heater with a faulty part that lasts only a few months. I was tempted to just replace it, but decided I'd give the warranty a chance. They had the part next day shipped and the service tech came out today and fixed it at no charge. He shared my opinion of whirlpool and said that he has replaced this part many times, but it seems to fix the problem. So, I'm so far happy with the service and even more happy I didn't have to pay for anything. Now lets just pray it stays lit! :)