Bernard is a sneaky little elf who leaves envelopes for my children every night, counting down the days until Christmas.
Inside each envelope is a treat or an activity for all of us to do together.
On Sunday, he demanded that we acquire a Christmas Tree. (He is a slightly bossy little elf.) Look at that bossy exclamation point! My word.
And so we did. (That is a bowl that we keep all of his notes in. And some ephemera from the activity he told us to do. Anna has told me she wants to keep “every single BIT that he leaves us Momma!”)
Good girl.
A few weeks ago I came across this charming little christmas tree lot in the old Mervyn’s parking lot off Alicia Pkwy in Mission Viejo. There are lights strung up around the whole thing, and the trees are in stands so that you can easily walk around and find the one that is calling to come home with you. I never like to pick the strong, confident, leader of the pack…the alpha male. I like to rescue the one that nobody wants. Bring me your tired, your weak, your huddled masses….your lopsided, sparse, missing branches…I will love you. The Whitneys will love you.
I loved being here at this little lot. It felt small town. It felt old fashioned. It was wickedly cold (for us), and the sun shone bright in our eyes. It was hard to choose.
We picked one for the living room and one smaller one for upstairs.
I will leave out the part in this story that tells about how Mckenna misjudged how long she could wait to go potty.
xo
Tara
edit: I forgot to add this into my post. I decided, to make it extra super dooper special, I am going to announce the winner of the Charity: Water free photo shoot on Christmas Eve, here on my blog.
gosh, this makes me really, really miss the olden days when you scrapbooked : )
mmm…those are some beautiful trees. Love those little Whitneys. So cute with the girls and their stripes.
love that. and i love that you weren’t afraid to have more than one tree. too many people in my life are scared of more than one… hehe.
Love that little elf’s idea! LUV! These are great.
what a great idea! and the light shining on the tree branches in the third pic down … beautiful!
bernard the elf?! damn it to effing hell why didn’t i do something like this this year for the boys?!!!! maybe it would have made us feel better this year. you. are. brilliant. your tree story (and bernard the elf) makes me want to BE a whitney. will you adopt me? ;-)
What a lovely tradition of Bernard the Elf! And it’s nice to see a more ” small town ” Christmas tree place – and to know that you love the “Charlie Brown” christmas trees too….I have always had a soft spot in my heart for those as well.
LOVE it. totally am bookmarking this to do next year! also, my first thought was, dang i wish she scrapbooked still.
We went Sunday too! And I’m with you – it got super cold (for here, anyway). With all us big kids the debate centered around which tree had the perfect amount of space between branches to let ornaments hang properly. We’re too geeky for our own good.
love these photos.. so very Christmasy.. so very wonderful thanks for sharing
Yikes! I just found your blog, and your photos are beyond amazing! You have an amazing talent for highlighting raw emotion in your pictures in a way that’s hard to describe. I added you to my blogroll.
Awesome work! :)
i always pick the loser tree too:). even ugly trees need a god home…my husband just shakes his head…
mission viejo!! my uncle used to live there:) – i went oftenish as a kid – it was like nirvana coming from Canada;).
your kids are adorable:)
I love the pic of Mckenna by herself – she looks so pretty!
wait! i thought you rented a tree???
Dang, you are a super fun mom, I need to step it up!
You are officially the best memory-making mom ever. If the San Fran trip wasn’t enough to prove it, this post is! You rock!!
Your kids are complete DOLLS!
I love every photo you take of them!
these are so FUN! I love the elf idea w/ notes!
I wanted to do so much this season, but unfortunately,
I got the flu and then Ava got strep throat and it has
thrown me off big time! I feel like such a failure!!
I have got to do the elf thing, that is just too COOL!
They will remember these traditions forever!
way to go Tara!!!
love & merry christmas to your beautiful family!
tara pp
Ok Seriously your family seems like a blast!
you.are.a.SAINT <3
awesome – I love going Christmas tree shopping! Haha, we totally went “alpha male” this year though – all 11 feet high of it, haha. Oh, and hopefully it warms up there for ya, but out near here, last weekend Edmonton was the 2nd coldest place ON THE PLANET! Haha, what a year. Good excuse for a nice warm fire!
love the new elf tradition!!!!Bernard sounds very good at getting what he wants. does he help wrap presents???I cant wait to see what he has in store for you tomorrow!! I will have fun following along to see the possibilities in store…
I love that your feeling the magic of Christmas…
starting your own traditions, playful and in anticipation.
treasure and embrace every priceless moment!!hold on to the innocence as long as you are allowed,it will take your breath away when you find it has left you. so go forth Bernard elf of
Christmas cheer!! Have fun
two trees!! yes you got that from me..I was showing Nancy the ornament you made when you were 3 or 4 with Diana. still on our tree every year, Those are my innocent take my breath away moments. I carefully unfold the heart and your name before hanging on the tree. then it happens so quickly…I can see you and you smell like Cinnamon sugar and your running and their is yellow all around you then it feels like your soul blows through me taking my breath with it…..just like that,seconds at the most.
And I look forward to it every year,,,
as you will with yours
as they will with theirs.
the breath away moments…..
ox
Mom
love you all
PS Justin’s comment before mine?? Mentions Edmonton?? Is that Edmonton Canada?? If so that is where my Mom, your Nana was born Tara……
My baby boy is only 2 years old. What a fantastic and magical thing to do for your kids. Can I ask how old were they when you started this tradition? I think this is what Christmas is all about. Just enjoying the moments.
What a fantastic place to take photos. We always get our tree the first weekend after thanksgiving- I like to get bang for my bucks- especially to have the warm friendly glow of the lights as the days get darker. I support our local firemen who sell trees this time of year, but they are all leaning and you can’t see their branches. We usually just take one of the first 5 we see anyway. I love the idea of them all out on display like that. Oh and I love your elf envelopes.
Love the idea of Bernard the Elf. I made 24 little advent stockings (palm of your hand size) a few years ago. Each one is pegged onto twine and strung up the stairs. This year they have chocolate coins and little Lego pieces in them, but I’m liking the idea of little notes in envelopes from an elf for next year!
bernard! is that from the santa clause? we just watched it last night!
Love Love Love the Elf idea. Gonna have to borrow that one for next year. Have a very merry merry Christmas Whitney family!
Justin – the coldest on the PLANET??? That is CRAZY! :) And kind of cool.
My brother in law Jason came up with the name Bernard after I told him and my SIL we were doing this with the kids. My nieces are getting visits from Bernard too!
This is the first year we have done this.
Please, NO ONE feel like a failure. I have spent many Christmases feeling the same. If you don’t have it in you, you just don’t have it in you and that is okay! This year I happen to have it in me, and I am having fun. For the past MANY years Christmas has just been a huge bummer for me. There is a lot different about this year. I have the energy and the spirit and I am going with it. Save this idea and you can do it next year. :)
xoxo
xo
I love that you love the Charlie Brown trees! Our elf only does mischief like toilet papering the kids rooms at night, getting tangled up in the xbox controllers, writing all over the shower with toothpaste, etc. Mom and Dad are always eager for Santa to take him back, haha. Also, your mom’s comments make me weepy! It does go too fast!
Tara, I don’t often comment but wanted to today. I’ve read your mama’s comment three times….such a wonderful prespective and a good reminder. Thank you! I love that you have a little Canada in you too….being from Canada myself. Have a fantastic, happy holiday! I can see a little elf in our future…what a great tradition to start! enjoy every second.
Tamara
What a great idea and fun pix. My 3 year old niece just got an “elf” this year. I can’t wait to have my own kids and have an elf tradition. How fun!
this is so good. i miss getting a tree. a few years ago we bought our neighbors fake tree. i cried the first year we put it up. i am ok with how it looks….i miss the trip to pick it. but home depot just wasn’t making the memories that great anyway. once before we moved to kansas we looked at a christmas tree farm…to buy! i had many day dreams about playing tree farmer and all the fun stuff we could do. but the house was nasty. bummer.
i love how you said it felt small town.
i know and love that feeling.
merry christmas tara. thank you for the years of inspiration and joy your have given me. you have no idea.
What a brilliant idea. I love it!
You should check out the poem “little tree” by ee cummings. I think you would like it!
http://www.poetry-archive.com/c/little_tree.html
It’d just like to say that this tree lot has the best name! Pumpkin City Christmas Trees….! I mean come on, it doesn’t get any cuter than that!
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Would you mind sharing what Bernard the Elf did for the other days’ envelopes? I love this idea, and am going to start this next year also, such a creative mommy you are, thank you for sharing this with us :)
I LOVE this idea Tara! So sweet to read about a new holiday tradition for your family. Love it!
We always got our trees at Pumpkin City, back when we lived in the OC! Loved them. They were the best. We went to the one on the corner of Golden Lantern and Camino del Avion right by our house, but I have no idea if they still set up there anymore. Love your elf idea. Too fun! Like you said, I’ll have to tuck it away for a year that I’ve got it in me. Glad to have “found” you…
OK. I just LOOOVE your blog. I think your awesome perpective on living shines through in your pics in the most remarkable ways. I live in RSM, so I’m always thinking that if I run into you one day, I’ll totally freak out and blather all over about what an awesome photographer you are…but if I do, I hope you’ll understand. Have a wonderful holiday, and enjoy your trees….
Oh you are too gorgeous. Thanks for your amazing blogging this year. Love it when you come up bold on my rss feeder -and can’t wait to check out your world. I hope you and your gorgeous family have a wonderful Christmas _ I’ll be staying tuned Karen xoxo
you are an amazing mother. the weak tree. inspiring beauty in it all!!!
that last one, with the four of them hugging… so sweet! great christmas memory!
what fun..good ideas and great photos! I love your work
Tara, I’ve told you before, but dang you are cool! And you make me miss my MV. Especially when it’s snowing and 20 degrees here in Highland. Brrr.
you found your happy trees in my hood!!! I am so happy/ jealous that your fam gets to smell the real tree smell, not the fake real tree candle smell.
love bernard. makes me think of Lost… hilarious that he is so bossy. maybe because he is small?
looking forward to finding out who you picked for the charity:water shoot! Secretly selfishly I am hoping it is Megan. Because I want her family to get themselves out here for a vacay!
oh oh oh! I love the elf envelopes! Remind me to do that next year! :)
Merry Christmas to you and yours!!
Oh MY! I LOVE the idea of Bernard! Like everyone else, I am totally stealing this idea for next year! I hope you and your family had a fantastic Christmas!
I love Bernard the elf! What a great family tradition!
Just coming by and saw this post. Cute use of that tag! And I love that Anna said she wanted to keep it all :)
found it! I had this favorited, but lost it when my computer crashed. But I searched Tara Whitney Elf and it came right up! Love this idea – perfect way to start my tomorrow.