Once upon a time, a  Happy Little Family went high up into the mountains looking for some holiday cheer to bring back into their little home.

The little family stopped by a tree farm that was perched on one side of the mountain and the big sister got out of the little car and started looking over the trees.

Some were too small and some were certainly too big…

Then the big sister spied one that looked just right. So the Daddy, he chopped that tree down and carried it back to their little car.

The little sister, well she was not so very happy to see that perfect little tree all chopped down. She was so cold. Her little stroller had tipped way over on the side of the mountain. She had eaten all of her O’s and drank all of her milk and just felt so very sad and tired and hungry. And her Mommy, well her Mommy just kept taking more and more pictures. So she just cried, and she cried.

But the big sister, well she had done this cheer gathering once before. She knew that it was alright if you needed to cry and cry while your Daddy chopped down the holiday tree and your Mommy kept taking pictures. She knew it just meant you left your holiday tears out on the side of the mountain and only brought home your holiday cheer. So she followed her Daddy over to the little old tree farmer and laughed with delight while he caught that perfect little tree up in a net.

Once that perfect little tree was tied up to the top of the little car, the Happy Little Family drove into the nearby little mountain town and the big sister told the little sister a secret. She told that little sister that the best part of going up to the mountain to find the holiday cheer was that once you were done with all of the chopping and taking pictures the Daddy would drive you to a Bakery and buy you your very own donut! With that little halo of sweetness a big grin spread over each of the faces of the Happy Little Family. They had all found their holiday cheer! 

And they happily did it again year after year…*

*some artisitic liberties were taken with the retelling of this tale. It was romanticized just a wee bit. Well except the part about the wailing. That part was spot on. And the part about doing it over and over again. That part is spot on as well. I guess that’s why it qualifies as a tradition 🙂  

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