Christmas Traditions: Choosing the Christmas Tree

On a weekend morning not too long after Thanksgiving, my husband and I load up the kids and we all go out to our favorite small, local restaurant for breakfast. Reed's Country Store in New Braintree, Massachusetts is our breakfast destination, as it has been for years. We choose Reed's not only for it's proximity to Kip's Christmas tree farm, but also for the friendly atmosphere, superior country-cooking quality, and value-nowhere else can we feed our family of six a full breakfast for under thirty-five dollars (no lie).

As I said, my husband and I have been faithful Reed's customers for years (he single handedly kept the restaurant open during his bachelor days), and they have watched our family grow over the last eight years. Our Christmas tree shopping breakfast gives us an opportunity to patronize Reed's during this festive time of year and touch base with the owners, neighbors, and friends.

After a very hearty breakfast prepared by Ed at Reed's Country Store, we drive up the hill to Kip's Christmas Tree Farm in the center of New Braintree, Massachusetts. Kip's Christmas Tree Farm has pre-cut Christmas trees, or you can choose and cut your own. We always opt for the adventure of exploring Kip's Christmas Tree fields and cutting our own. This entails a lot of walking, my husband choosing the first tree he comes to, and myself always looking a row or two further for the 'perfect' Christmas tree. Eventually, everyone grows weary, my husband gets antsy, and we settle on a great looking Christmas tree. Of course, it's almost always a Christmas tree my husband has been pushing since the beginning, but I had to look around to be sure.

Kip's Christmas Tree Farm makes life easy for their customers by setting up checkout booths in two or three places at the openings of the fields. You can have your Christmas tree wrapped on the spot for easier transport. Kip's will also bring a horse and wagon down the fields to pick up your chosen tree and meet you at the top of the Christmas Tree Farm with your purchase (we usually just park close by and load our Christmas tree there).

Kip's Christmas Tree Farm in New Braintree really goes the extra length to make buying your Christmas Tree a memorable experience. When you are finished choosing your Christmas Tree, all are invited back to the shop at the top of the hill for a warm cup of cocoa and candy canes for the kids (at no charge). Kip's wife and workers are always busy filling orders for Christmas wreathes, Yule logs, cemetery boxes, and decorations, and are very welcoming and friendly to visit with.

With cocoa consumed, we make our way over to the deer pen where mule deer play for the kids to visit and feed. Our visit with the deer completes our Christmas Tree buying adventure, and we head home with our new Christmas resident.

As a final touch to our family Christmas tradition, I purchase a new, personal Christmas ornament for my husband and each child every year. They all look forward to receiving their new Christmas decoration, curious to see what I've chosen this year. I shop for unique Christmas ornaments that display a hobby, interest, or dream of its owner. The individual ornaments are marked inconspicuously with the recipient's name and the Christmas year. Some day, when the children are all grown and move out, they'll be able to take their Christmas ornament collection along with them when they start their own family and their own Christmas traditions. I imagine I'll never stop giving them a hand-picked Christmas ornament just for them, though.

There are other traditions among the various branches of our family, but these are the most intimate and personal to us as the day we buy our Christmas tree is really all about just our household. It is a day we look forward to all year long, and this one simple holiday errand is turned into a morning-long family outing, full with Christmas memories.