The Tale of the Christmas Tree

For the past several years we have cut down our own Christmas tree. It is a tradition that I have for the most part enjoyed. This time it was a little more challenging. We decided to head up to Idaho to cut down the tree in the canyon on the way to Paris, ID (I forget the name). Since my Father had just undergone open heart surgery they decided it would be wise to rent a snowmobile.
We got up to the canyon and found out everyone else with a snowmobile was doing the same thing. We couldn't find parking anywhere and when we finally did it was about a half a mile from where everyone else found parking.
We parked and then trekked it up the road to meet up with the rest of our posse. Unfortunately, my brother Stephen managed to get the snowmobile stuck in the middle of nowhere and we couldn't find him for about two hours. He was trying to dig it out the whole time and we were trying to decide whether to go after him or not.
Finally, Eddie and I decided to try and get a tree without one. We started walking through the snow (you cannot cut them right off the side of the road you have to be a certain distance from it). I have never been through such deep snow in my life. There had just been a snowstorm and fresh powder was on the ground. Each step would result in sinking up to the hip or further. We didn't make it too far before we were dead tired.
Deciding that maybe Stephen made it back by then we went back to the groomed trail. I wish I could say I was patient and kind during this time, but I was not. When my brother finally showed up he was exhausted and ready to be off the snowmobile.
Eddie and I jumped on and went up a trail. It was so beautiful! The freshly fallen snow covered the pine trees and everything else. We got up high enough to see Bear Lake and enjoyed the view for a minute. We then pulled the snowmobile over and found what we thought would be a perfectly adequate tree (anything green would do by that point).
My Mom and Dad were able to ride for a little while as well. On the way home we almost hit a deer, but were very lucky. We learned a lot from this experience and it seems like each time we go we do so. By the time our kids are graduated from high school we might just have the cutting the tree thing down.