This Christmas we will be hosting 4 of the 5 children plus their spouses or girlfriends and the two grandchildren. That calls for a Big Christmas Tree. We hiked out the front door with our pruning saw and found a nice tree about one hundred yards uphill to the northeast (near where Francis got his elk). In a moment of genius, it occurred to us we could employ the game sled used to retrieve Francis's elk to transport the tree back home. Of course, the tree did not fit in the sled, but it did help with the heavy end.

This tree appears to be the tallest we have cut since moving into the Main House in 2007 – for reference, the steel rods connecting the ends of the arched timbers are exactly 10 feet from the floor and the top of the timbers above the fireplace is 12 feet. We had to cut about 6 inches from the top of the tree to accomodate the crowning ornament, but it is still over 11 feet top to bottom. Even with our 10-foot ladder, decorating the top was a challenge because the lower branches prevented us from placing the ladder close to the tree.