The McMahon Clan: Picking our Christmas Tree

The McMahon Journey to find the perfect 2012 Christmas tree!

U Cut Trees

Harrisonville, NJ

We'll be back next year but this year we left sadly without a perfect tree!

The great thing about this farm is that there are a lot of trees in bloom so next year we can go early to try to get a good one but this year the weather must have had a bad effect on leaving most of the trees with bare spots and brown needles. It is a really great place for a very reasonable tree. He only charges $30 for any tree in the farm. It's a steal...when you find the right one!

We went to our usual tree farm to buy our tree this year and we were really late in going to tag a tree and when we got there we spent about an hour searching for the perfect tree but this year we had no luck. All the good trees were already tagged and as you can see in the picture above that we still need a few more years for some of the baby trees to grow! This was Meghan's first real experience enjoying running around the farm and she had such a great time wondering around helping us search out a tree. After our search came up empty we decided to just take a ride to four seasons and pay a little more for a perfect tree. The kids were glad we did because they got to enjoy a tractor ride on Santa's sleigh and even got a cute little treat from the store owner. I must say our tree is probably the most perfect tree and best smelling one we have ever had. It is stunning and the kids did a great job finding the perfect tree for us.

I followed the train around the circle and good thing I did because about half way through Meghan decided she had enough and tried to escape from her Rudolph carriage!

Everyone was really excited to get their care packages and we couldn't even wait to tear them open. Inside we found a bottle of water, hot cocoa, and yummy Hershey kisses!

The tree is lite and after a day or two we put up all of our decorations and the house is all in order and ready for the special day!

A few weeks after we got our tree we went back to Four Seasons to enjoy a pony ride and sit on Santa's lap. The kids had a great time and so did Mommy. I will post pics soon! They do Pony rides and have Santa there every Saturday from 1-4 the entire month of December!

Connor pretending to be a jockey. I really don't know where he gets it from, but everything revolves around sports...even a pony ride!

We received our annual petitfours from Pop Pop and this year they were personalized! Thank you Dad, for very yummy treats to get us in the holiday spirit!

Dinner with Santa at Toscana's

Kids eat free at Toscana's in Mullica Hill and boy were there a lot of kids there! Our reservation was for 15 people and most of them were kids. Santa came around to all the tables and talked to all the kids to make sure they were all being good boys and girls. After they ate we sat on his lap and everyone received a special prize, too!

We went to see Santa at Toscana's and Mara said she didn't really get a chance to tell Santa everything she really wanted when we saw him at the Photography studio so she really wanted to make sure he knew she was being good and that he had her list. Connor asked him what he did with the list he gave him last week and Santa said his elves were already busy making sure he got everything he wanted. Mara was so intriqued by Santa and he let her touch his beard and play with his hat. He was amazing and so was Mrs. Claus! She took all of our pictures so I didn't get one with her but they were so sweet with the kids.

This was the first year that Connor really started to ask us a lot of questions about Santa and our Elf. He has been leaving "Clarke" notes and asking him to answer math questions and write us back. When we went to the studio for our private visit with Santa Connor wanted to know why there were so many Santas and how do we know that we are seeing the "real" Santa. It's so hard to explain it to inquiring minds but we told him that some of the Santa's are just Santa's helpers especially the ones that don't have real beards but the Santa we saw was definitely the real Santa and Connor said "Mom and Dad I'm only going to leave my list with this Santa if I think it is the real one" So Don and I waited to see what he would do and sure enough he said "I saw the twinkle in his eye" and that was definitely the real Santa so he left his list there and Santa is checking it twice! Ahhhhh, the joys of seeing the magic through your child's eyes.....Priceless!

Our Holiday Dinner 2012 with our Swedesboro Group

It was our turn to host the party so I thought we would go all out and have a great dinner with good friends and good wine. And a good time we had. There were 18 of us and I think we went through 10 bottles of wine and a little bit of beer with a splash of vodka! oh and we can't forget the olives!

Don and I made a Prime Rib, Theresa and Dave brought an excellent Cesar salad, the Botto's brought the sides and we paired it with shrimp and pasta. Everyone else brought wine, appetizers and delicious desserts.

I set up three table and used all our fine china including the china from Nana which is always so special to use. I bought little stockings with everyones initials to use to put the silverware in and then they all got to take them home. It was a winter wonderland with beautiful place settings and centerpieces.

Rose and Steve are our good friends and neighbors down the street. Theresa and Dave are are friends from Mullica Hill. I met Theresa cleaning her teeth about three years ago and we have kids the same age. We became instant friends and our kids are great friends too. They are all really great people!

Rich and Gwen. Our summer weekends are spent at their house every saturday with a big get together. Everyone brings food and drinks and the kids play and swim all day. It is always a good time with them.

Kevin and Jeannie live across the street from Gwen and we were in playgroup way back when the boys were 3 years old. We have stayed good friends ever since.

Patrick and Dom are Tracy and Diana's husbands who are also are great friends. Its like one little town with all amazing people living side by side and we just happen to be a little part of the fun living a few miles away.

Amanda and Chris, the first couple we actually met and went to dinner with and Chris and Don totally have the same sense of humor and just laugh the night away together. Super Great Friends!

Amanda, Tracy, and Diana. Three wonderful friends who are always smiling and looking out for one another. So glad to have met these wonderful ladies and so glad we are such a great group of friends.

Courtney and Rosie sharing a martini together! Court asked for extra olive juice and oh boy was she drinking the ocean!

Gwen and Theresa chatting it up about the tri club and having a great time.

No need to really comment on this picture, I think you can tell by the full glass and bottle and the great pic below that Amanda was surely having a great night.