"We still have to get a tree.""Who wants to bother with a live Christmas tree? They can be such a mess.""I'll just run down to the lot on the corner. If I go close to the twenty-fourth, I can usually get a deal, and I'm in an out quickly."Christmastime is such a hectic season that, for many families, finding time to get a Christmas tree becomes "just one more chore." And the debate between getting a live versus an artificial evergreen seems on-going. This is a tale about how one family turned the task of buying a Christmas tree into a must-attend, can't-miss event over a series of years. It is a story about making memories, building a tradition, and creating family among strangers in a very unlikely place.