We both had the day off and tackled a project we had discussed for weeks. Should we remove the large blue spruce tree from the front yard? Yes, we should.

We started around noon. Once Cas started cutting the branches, I removed them and loaded the truck. Once it was full, I would go to the dumps. When I returned from the first load, Cas cut the entire tree into pieces. Getting that tree down would have taken much longer, but he did it in thirty minutes.

Once on the ground, Cas discovered a nest up there with four baby birds. It fell when he was cutting the top section. He managed to keep the nest intact, and we moved the section to another tree, hoping Mom would find it. A little while later, we saw two birds flying around searching for their home, and we hope they find the new spot soon. Cas feels bad about it, but I reminded him, “It’s the circle of life.”

After that was settled, we removed the seven side trees, a mix of blue spruce and another tree. Cas cut the branches to make it easier to remove the stumps (he thinks of everything). While removing the side trees, Rhonda came home, and we told her that since we first moved in, Jason had said he hated these trees, so we removed them. She laughed and explained that the trees have sharp needles, and when he would get into his truck, it would keep poking him, and when the kids play in the front yard, they often like to run through the bushes and come back to scraps on their arms. So she loved the new trees. Cas also apologized if we were noisy building the patio cover; she said she had no idea; then, one day, from the school parking lot, she asked herself, where did that come from?

We pressed on, removing all the stumps and going to the dumps twice. Next, it was time to use Jose to dig up the soil, but Jose was not having it, and after twenty minutes of trying to get him fired up, we moved on. Cas dug the holes, and in went the seven trees we bought. Adding lots of water, we were in the home stretch to finish before dark. We loved the new look and walked to the street to see what it looked like. When Jason arrived, he was so happy because he had been thinking about cutting the trees on his side as they were taking up a lot of areas and bugging him; problem solved.