We've had an artificial one the last few years. I used to go to a relatives tree farm and we would pick one out and cut it down and shove it partially into the trunk and tie it down, bring it and whatever critters were hibernating in it into the house etc etc etc.
Speaking of live trees, my funniest Christmas tree moment ever was many years ago when I was young and at home with my parents. We picked out a tree out in the woods and dragged it back. Mom warned us that the tree was too big, but we wanted a big tree. The tree was HUGE! It was kind of tall, but it was really big around. Fortunately, we had a sliding glass door, because we wouldn't have gotten it into the house through a normal doorway. We fixed the tree stand to it before standing it up and when we stood it up it banged into the ceiling. Oops. It was such a pain trying to get it into the house that we didn't want to drag it out to trim off some of the trunk to shorten it. We popped the tree stand back off and my Dad comes into the house with his chainsaw!!!! LOL! Anyway, he proceeds to use the chainsaw in the house to trim the trunk. The chainsaw is roaring, wood chips are flying everywhere, and the sweet smell of burning gas and oil float through the house. Then to top it off the smoke dectors start going off creating a cacophony of sounds that were more 70s horror film than Christmastime. It was just a quick lop off some trunk, because once the trunk was cut, he had to cut off some lower branches so that the stand could be used and presents would fit underneath. So the action went on for several minutes. I don't think I'll ever forget that.
