I love power tools!

A couple weeks ago, I spent a Saturday morning helping my dad fix a tree that broke during a snowstorm last winter. The storm hit while there were still leaves on the tree, and the weight broke the tree in half. We were worried that the tree would die, but this spring it started blooming!! Dad contacted our local garden store about what to do. They said that we should have tried to fix it last winter when it first broke. "Okay, well, we can't do that anymore. What now?"

They suggested that we prune the tree to remove excess weight, then bolt it together where it snapped. Dad was going to climb into the tree to do the drastic pruning, but I convinced him to let me get into it instead.  I got to climb a ladder into the tree, then cut the branches using his chainsaw. SO MUCH FUN!!! There were a few moments where I felt off balance, but otherwise I felt pretty stable up there, and I really loved using the chainsaw.

My favorite moment came when dad told me to cut the branch that was directly over my head. To clarify, I pointed at said branch, and said, "Really? This one? This big heavy branch right over my head? You want me to cut it off?"

"Yup."

Trusting my dad, I cut the branch, and instead of falling right onto my head like I thought it would, it got caught in the other branches around it and only fell NEAR my head.

Anyway, we got the tree trimmed down, we used some fun pulley-systems to pull the broken halves back together, and now our tree has bolts right through its middle. It will now be our "Frankenstein's Monster" tree. Lets just pray lightning doesn't strike and set the tree to life.

Happy Spring!

Spring has come to temple square, which means that I have a very hard time concentrating at work because all I want to do is look at the flowers outside of my window. I've decided I want to create a planter for my back patio, which will be my little paradise at home - I'll have my deck chairs and table, a small bbq grill which I got for Christmas, and then as many flower/vegetable planters as possible. I'm excited, and I hope it will all fit.

And in an unrelated topic, (because I love to choose two unrelated topics and combine them in the same post), I love my nieces and nephews. There is really nothing more rewarding than walking up a hill and having your nephew run towards you and give you a huge hug, and then to have his younger brother jump into your arms and for another huge hug.

Did you notice how a huge theme of conference was on families and rearing children? Sometimes that can get hard to apply when you don't have kids. However, there ARE children in my family whom I love with all my heart. So, although I can't give my love to any children or a husband right now, I'll just give extra love to those precious 8 children whom I am honored call me "Aunty Em." (Well, they don't actually call my Aunty Em, but I'm trying to convince everyone that it would be awesome if they do. And if one of my future nieces is named Dorothy and she gets a dog named Todo, all the better.)