Christmas Tree Farm Fun!

We ended our trip to the Christmas Tree Farm with a roasted marshmallow, a trip through the tunnels... we had one very happy toddler :)  
 
 
 

How Lovely Are Your Branches

And then, the perfect tree was found. Daddy used his strong muscles to chop it down, and then Zanna helped lug the winner back to the tractor. And, a happy family (with a bad close-up shot by mommy) had their Christmas tree :)

 
 
 
 

O Christmas Tree...

Then there was the walk to the trees and the all important measuring and choosing...

 
 
 
 

Oh Christmas Tree....

First there was the hayride... 
 
 

Hamburger Slam 2010!

 
 
 
 

The Day After Thanksgiving, we had a "Hamburger Slam!" with our family friends, the Geislers. Everyone was in charge of creating two delicious hamburgers for the rest of the group to sample and judge. We had some stiff competition.... Ingrid and her boyfriend Marty made the "Mighty Fine Burger" (they didn't even know there was a Mighty Fine restaurant in Austin!) complete with avocado, green salsa and a 'secret blend of spices'. Cay and Dorian (1 of the mom/son teams) made the 3-legged Zebra, which had mayo cooked on the patty (they learned this from Alton Brown) avocado, and cheese and goodness. Then, there was Jeremy and Mom's team who made the "Razzle Dazzle Apple" with roasted apples and bacon, and then Cam's and my team who made the "Dirty Allen" ( a take on the Dirty Sanchez taco at Torchy's) with a fried poblano pepper, pickled carrots and avocado. Man, it was good eating! We did judging in two ways: every team was judged by the other teams and then we did individual judging as well. I am pleased to announce that the winner of the 2010 Hamburger Slam was none other than....... (drumroll please!) THE DIRTY ALLEN!! We won both the team and the individual contest. It wasn't long after all of the hamburgers were consumed that people were plotting for their next year's hamburgers..... a tradition has been made. Yum.