The Parrillo Family

One of the great family traditions we have that kicks off the holiday season annually is a visit to pick out (and cut down!) our Christmas tree.  Welp, this year, we have tree(s).  Two of them.  And we cut them both down over the weekend. We've been going to the Tammen Tree Farm down in Braidwood for as long as I've been a part of the Moran family Christmas Tree tradition and have been posting the photos since 2010. Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2016 . I don't seem to have posted about Christmas Tree Day in 2015? Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2014 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2013 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2012 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2011 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2010 . This year, we had our full crew and found our 'big' tree in one of the fields.  Yo...

The weekend after Thanksgiving means it is the time to wander out into fields of Braidwood to find the Parrillo (and Moran and Fox) family Christmas tree(s).   This year was a breeze as everyone found their trees in no time and all in the same area! The kids had a ball running around and even got in on the cutting of our tree! This is an annual tradition that I've documented over the years: I don't seem to have posted about Christmas Tree Day in 2015? Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2014 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2013 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2012 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2011 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2010 . Here's SD lending me a hand in cutting our family tree down: Frank helped for the first time cut some of the excess branches off of our tree. We were all joined by the Si...

As is tradition, the day after Thanksgiving, we pack up the Family Truckster and head down to Braidwood with the Moran Clan to cut down a few Christmas Trees.  The Morans take two and we get our (slightly) smaller Fraser Fir for our living room. Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2012 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2011 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2010 . This was Sadie's second trip to the tree farm and she was *much* more into the whole process.  She had some time to bond with her Godfather Charlie, too! As Eloise gets older, it is fun to watch her through the prism of these traditions.  She started attending in our hiking backpack back in 2010 .  This year?  She was in on the action of sawing and dragging the trees to the truck! If you are reading this in your email and can NOT see the slideshow below, click here to view all the photos .  

Like we've done every year for the past seven, we trucked down to the Tammen Treeberry Farm in Wilmington to select and cut down the Parrillo Family Christmas Tree. Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2011 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2010 . Some years, it is wet.  Some years it is unseasonably warm.  This year?  It was brutally cold.  As such, the selection process went really quick.  Dianne and Charlie Moran pick out two trees, and Nat, the girls and I take our (relatively) tiny tree. This year, Aunt Sasha was able to join the us and experience this midwestern tradition as well as Sisi and Bill who came in from Denver for Thanksgiving. While I'm not sure SD thought that much of the experience, this was the first year that Ellie actually got into the whole 'selection' process.  Nat and I ran our choice by her and she quickly ratified it before telling us that her hands were freezin'... (If y...

We packed up Ellie and (along with the Moran Clan) went down to Wilmington for our annual tree farm visit. (If you are reading this in your email and can't see the slideshow below, you should click here to view the photos on the site.)