Tuesday, December 27, 2011

A Christmas Tree Story pt 1

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(my family's tree- Christmas Morning)

I've always loved going out to pick Christmas trees with my family every year, but since my family moved to Utah about six years ago, our trees have become especially significant. My grandpa owned quite a chunk of land on Monroe mountain, near Richfield, ( a couple hours south of salt lake) and he built a cabin there, and every summer of my whole life we would all go spend a week there as a family. It was incredibly secluded, and I loved spending all day out exploring the woods, meadows, and streams.

Any time I've ever been asked in an exercise to imagine a favourite place, a haven, or somewhere peaceful, I've always happily conjured up the memories of being out by that cabin, taking in the mountain scenery. A friend of my Grandpa's sells Christmas trees, and got permission to cut a small amount from our land every year, and in exchange, my Grandma Bagley and all her children get a free Christmas Tree straight from Grandpa's land. I love the subtle sense of wildness these trees have- they are never symmetrical, they are never perfectly bushy or necessarily commercially desirable. The trunks are often crooked and the branches often much more sparse than the average farmed tree, but we love the distinct look and what it reminds us of. And the lovely smell of pine- our pines!

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(Grandma Bagley's tree- later Christmas Morning)

I really like being able to see details of the trunk and the branches, and I like to think of where the tree came from, and that we have a bit of that mountain here in our home. This year we got an extra tree to prop next to Grandpa's headstone, in Millcreek Cemetary, so he can have a piece of the mountain with him. It's even lit up and powered by solar panels, so at night it twinkles with the cemetery luminaries, a neighborhood Christmas tradition.


(and here's just some fun family scenes:)

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(this cute little hood and vintage red dress were Christmas presents from Ryan. so excited!)

21 comments:

  1. OHMYGOODNESS...... you are absolutely adorable! I love your outfit and shoes..... wow! I think you'd look SOOO cute in one of my bow ties..... :)


    glad you have a lovely holiday, dear!

    love, polly :D

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  2. What a beautiful tree! It has a really lovely shape to it. I wish we still had pine trees for christmas however the needles used to get stuck in our poor dogs paws, so we thought best not to after that.

    Your Granpa's cabin sounds like bliss. I live in the city, so it's a real dream to some day settle down in a quiet place.

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  3. Your outfits are so wonderfully festive without being overdone! Love the trees, too!

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  4. Awww, these are adorable photos! I love your festive outfit :) And I also have memories of going out in the woods every year to find a tree. And that's so sweet about putting a tree up by your Grandpa's headstone!

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  5. you picked a great tree! and I absolutely love your outfits! they are so perfect for the occasion. you never disappoint! :)

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  6. You look so cute! These photos are lovely, everyone is so happy x

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  7. beautiful images xxx I hope you had a Merry Christmas

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  8. loving your holiday posts. these trees are sweet! I love that you got a tree for your granpa.

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  9. You look SO cute! I love your Christmas outfit soo much, the red tights are wonderful. I love the red vintage dress too. Very cute photos :)

    www.themoptop.com

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  10. cute pics. you look lovely. have a Cupcake sweet New Year!

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  11. lovely pics! :) I love your Christmas tree!

    http://whysherocks.blogspot.com/

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  12. First, how stinking cute are you in all of these photos?! Geeze! Second, I LOVE the story of your Christmas trees. What a great tradition :)

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  13. These photos are amazing, I love all your festive outfits!

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  14. Wow that tree looks fantastic with all the presents, I'm a little jealous since we didn't put a tree this year... Also that first dress is amazing, you look gorgeous!

    http://thinkmilkandhoney.net

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  15. I love that green number so cute! happy Holidays!

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  16. Aw, that cabin sounds like such a wonderful place, and I loved reading about your family's Christmas tree! Also, you look so lovely in both of these outfits. Those dresses are great!

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  17. Your outfits were so lovely!!! I hope your Christmas was so amazing!!

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  18. i just died over your dresses. holy cow girl, you have great style.

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