Starting Traditions
By Kaylee Warner - Guest Writer
Three months after our wedding, my husband, Nathan, and I were on a double date with our friends. It was shortly after Christmas, and we were chatting about how the holidays went for each of us.
“Did you and Nathan start any Christmas traditions this year?” the wife turned and asked me.
The question hit me by surprise, and I felt a bit like a deer in the headlights. Responding with “no” sounded odd, as if we had somehow failed at something. Yet the truth was, we hadn’t put much thought into our new family unit and what traditions we wanted to start. We simply fell in step with our family's plans and didn’t think twice.
The question stuck with me, especially since we weren’t planning on having kids in the near future. What traditions can we start with just the two of us? It was a thought that followed me through another holiday season, but once again went unanswered, because we moved a week before Christmas.
The next year, we were two years into marriage, and finally starting to feel established in our home, Nathan's career, and our marriage. I was determined to get a real Christmas tree for the first time since we’d been married, and I also wanted to get a photo to send out on our Christmas card. Given that we were 23 and (mostly) broke, getting professional photos wasn’t an option.
“We’ll just set up a phone and a tripod in the forest when we get our tree! You’re experienced in photography, I’m sure it’ll be perfect.” I told Nathan. He skeptically raised an eyebrow at me but ultimately agreed.
Growing up in the Midwest, my Christmas tree hunting experiences were limited to Christmas tree farms. Here in Northern California, we literally go into the National Forest and cut down wild pine trees! Since this was our first year cutting down a real tree, we weren’t exactly sure of the best location. North seemed like a good option. The day after Thanksgiving, we loaded up the car with some rope, a flimsy, cheap saw, our phones, a tripod, and our one-year-old German Shepherd, and set off.
Long story short, this day turned into a bit of a comedy of errors. The location we chose was almost entirely steep hills, the tree varieties were lacking, wrangling a German Shepherd puppy while trying to take self-posed portraits is less than ideal, and it turns out tying a tree to a car is a lot harder than it looks (don’t worry, it technically didn’t come off the car on the freeway, only almost.)
To this day, we frequently look back and share a laugh over the somewhat absurdity of it all. But the best part is, the following year we tried again. This time, we went east instead of north, found a spot in the forest that felt magical and a beautiful forest tree, and Nathan had gotten back into photography, giving us more equipment to work with rather than our phones.
Suddenly, we had our first official family tradition.
There is something special about traditions, especially around the holidays. There is so much meaning in making a concentrated effort to spend time together. Choosing to make something a priority year after year, even when it may be inconvenient or deemed difficult.
Throughout our four Christmas tree-hunting trips, we’ve had some ups and downs. Though thankfully, none as disastrous as the first trip. But the beautiful thing is, I know without a doubt that the day after Thanksgiving, I will get to adventure all day with my favorite person, our pup, and starting in 2026, our little boy.