Conquering Heroes

As you may have read on Dwynne's blog, snow hit the foothills in California about a month ago. The trees couldn't handle the weight, so you can imagine the mess that was left behind. It looked as if someone had haphazardly pruned the trees and tossed the limbs everywhere. In some cases it seemed the trees had exploded. So sad.

We spent all day (New Year's Eve) hauling, and dragging, and burning, and cutting . . . and conquering. You wouldn't believe how heavy those wet, oak branches can be. We were exhausted by the end of the day. Above: Anna conquers the branches with pure strength. Below: Adam conquers the wet burn pile with diesel and an air blower. Why am I doing the hauling and he doing the standing? Hmmm.

Below: All can be conquered with a chainsaw. (By the time it was my turn to use it, I couldn't even hold it, my muscles were screaming uncle. Bummer.)

Below: Michael almost got pinned by a falling branch! But then brute strength saved him at the last minute.

Below: Adam and Dad conquering the chainsaw dilemma.

Below: Mo, king of the pile.

Below: Michael tries to figure out how to safely cut this large limb down. CLICK HERE to see a video of his triumph!

Below: Now it takes FOUR guys to conquer the chainsaw problem?

Below: Dad, trying the conquering tree thing with all his might—and failing. CLICK HERE to see a (sideways, sorry) video of "the fall". Michael climbed up the tree. Adam tied the chainsaw to a rope and hoisted it up him.

Below: Hayden, Zuki, and Natalie, conquering the cold. Zuki helped with the hauling too. Natalie gave her a little branch to drag to the pile. It was cute.

In all, it was hard work. HARD WORK. But I like hard work, it feels good. And it has its fun moments too. Who doesn't like fire? And chainsaws? And large things falling out of the sky? CLICK HERE to view one last video. Did I mention this was hard work?

Looking Down

While hauling branches, there was beauty to be seen all over the ground. Work can be fulfilling in so many ways. Below: A woodpecker's hole. We found this in a tree after Michael cut it down.

New Years Eve

After all the branches were burned from our cleanup that day, we used the left over hot coals too cook foil dinners later that night.

Below: Looks like some sort of new sport . . . . but it's the guys retrieving our dinners from the ashes.

Micheal and Hayden.

Dwynne, Nat, Zuki, Mom (with her head lamp on) and Dad.

Grandpa, Adam, and Mo.

After dinner was done we came inside to eat and enjoy. They were VERY good.

There's a trick to making foil dinners so all the food is cooked evenly, no raw and no burnt. That is: make your foil dinner flat. Easy as that.

Then, we went BACK outside and had smores. Mo told Natalie he was going to have six. And he did.

I opted for a warm, gooey, chocolate filled banana instead of smores. It was delish.

Then when the new year rolls around, we all bang on pots and pans as is the tradition when the clock hits twelve. Then we stop and listen to see if we can hear noises from the neighborhood. If we do, we start banging all over again. We do this until the hills are quiet—because of course, we have to have the last word. Khee hee.

Happy New Year everyone!

Random

Mom and Zuki

The guys played basketball several times,

as did Zuki. (Natalie may be posting more on this, and I know there is video somewhere too. So check the Sisters' blogs in a few days, see if something pops up.)

We see a lot of wildlife around the house. This year the buck was a highlight. We saw a couple of cute kittens, one puffy and one deep black (they are wild and I think may live under the deck), turkeys up a tree, and heard the resident night owl during New Year's Eve.

Adam waiting at the airport. Lots of waiting. Lots of switching terminals. But we were upgraded to nice seats on our flight back. Thank you cosmos!

We received an itty bitty puzzle from my Aunt Jeri this year. Thanks Jeri, we are now all cross eyed.

Where was Adam while I was in the kitchen? Right here. Sleeping. In front of the fire place. It's the favorite spot in the house. Everyone will tell you.