Timber!

The following pictures represent a part of life I'd actually rather forget about, but Floyd insisted it be documented, so here goes. Some of you may remember that it was a bit windy around here a few weeks ago. And by "a bit windy" I actually mean hurricane-strength windy. I really like the wind, but apparently it was too strong for one of the ginormous trees we have. So the tree cracked and split and leaned into its neighbor tree.

Last Friday, Floyd and some of the men in our families spent the day cutting and cutting and cutting. Meanwhile Ben spent much of the day crying and crying and crying because outside the house was his own personal heaven (lots of men and lots of power tools) and he was stuck inside where it was safe.

The good news is that the tree is down. All 70 feet of it. The bad news is also that the tree is down. All 70 feet of it. In my backyard. It looks like some backwoods Ozarks camp back there. Especially when the pigs came wandering through.


Looks like it will be a busy winter...

Here's a little sideways video of one of the limbs and the trunk coming down. Kind of. I wasn't too good at capturing it.

Oink Oink!

Hey Dad-

Remember that year I sat on Santa's lap and asked if he could please bring me a pig? And remember how you rolled your eyes? Well, he's only about 20 years slow, but Saturday afternoon, look what showed up at my house...
And yes, Dad, my kids totally loved the pigs too. Ben squealed with delight, Cole laughed for an hour, and Annie just giggled. And super lucky Floyd got to chase the pigs back to the neighbor's house!

Now we will just start waiting for that horse I asked for to appear.

FYI for those who weren't there when I asked Santa for a pig, I totally loved pigs as a little girl. My room was decorated almost entirely with pigs (plus a few Ty Detmer posters). Don't worry though, peach was totally a cool color back then so the pig theme was right in style. Sort of. Most of my pig collection has been sent to the D.I. through the years, but I still have a few pigs Floyd sent me from Germany while he was on his mission. I just don't use them as home decor anymore though.

Decade

It's true. One decade ago today, we said "I do." (Well, technically we just said "Yes.") It's been a good ride. And here's a little trip down memory lane with an official record for number of pictures included in one blog post.

Dear Floyd,

We’ve dipped our toes in sea and shining sea

Oregon? Washington? California? Somewhere on the Pacific Coast.

Victoria, British Columbia

Ke'e Beach Kauai

Newport Beach, California

Cannon Beach, Oregon

And wet our waders once or twice

Logan River

We’ve survived the thundering lights of Vegas (not my fave)

New York New York Casino

And immersed ourselves in the echoing silence of Glacier (I want to go back)

Going to the Sun Road, Glacier Park

Awesome hair picture

We’ve swam with starfish in Oahu

Some kind of long fish (technical name, of course), Hanauma Bay

And sailed past towering cliffs in Kauai

Napali Coast, Kauai

We’ve greeted the sun as it rose over the Atlantic

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

And waved goodbye as it set on the Pacific - lots of times

Sunset Beach, Oahu's North Shore

Somewhere along the way in Oregon

Newport Beach, California

Newport Beach, California

Napali Coast, Kauai

Napali Coast, Kauai

Hanalei Bay, Kauai

We climbed up rocky mountains

Along the Yellowstone River - with Cole in my tummy

Yellowstone Lake Overlook

And wrote our names on sandy beaches

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Oahu

We’ve kissed goodnight three thousand times (give or take a few)

Whispered goodbye by morning’s first light

We’ve sailed on lakes of silent waters

Willard Bay, Utah

Mantua Lake

Lake Tahoe

And rode on waves of stormy seas (no picture, but imagine green. my green face.)

We’ve searched for perfect presents

Shared secrets no one knows

We bought our first home

And survived the trauma of remodeling it

We buried four grandparents under winter’s snow

And brought three babies to our home (I want to eat these babies up!)

Cole

Annie

Ben

We’ve toured an old castle

And dug for ancient bones

I learned to like sauerkraut and bratwurst

You learned to tolerate spicy foods (or at least complain only a teensy bit)

We’ve skied down snowy mountains

Beaver Mountain

Then climbed back up again

Near Heber City, Utah

Silverton, Colorado

Yellowstone

I’ve sent you off to Southern cities

And welcomed you home under moonlit skies

I learned that you don’t like onions

We both learned that I don’t much like Louisiana

We learned to grow a thriving garden

And to reap what we sow

We’ve owned 13 different cars

And lived in three different homes

We’ve said goodnight across different time zones

And prayed for countless safe returns

We’ve decorated 16 Christmas trees together

Christmas Tree, 2002 (our second)

Dressed up as all kinds of different things

We rode a train to the tops of the mountains

Durango Narrow Gauge Engine, Silverton Colorado

And dropped a line in the depths of the sea (again, no picture- I was too busy puking, Floyd was too busy catching fish)

We've watched dolphins play

Orlando Sea World

And craned our necks to see eagles soar

We've searched out quiet meadows

Near Palisade Lake, Idaho

Lost our thoughts in the cacophony of our own home

Utah State gave us three degrees together

PhD, 2008

And 1000 parking tickets too

We've stood in the mist of waterfalls

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

Moose Falls, Yellowstone

Kauai

Made S'mores in the smoke of a hundred campfires

Island Park, Idaho

We've explored an old shipwreck

Ye Old Peter Iredale, near Astoria, Oregon

And toured an old battleship

U.S.S. Yorktown, Charleston, South Carolina

We rode a bike through the top of the mountains

Silverton, Colorado

And along the shore of the sea

Tybee Island, Georgia

We've stood on sacred ground

Ft. Sumter, South Carolina

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

And together kept sacred covenants

For all the things we've done

And all the things we haven't done,

I love you. Happy Anniversary.