Festival of the Tree Cutting

Every December, Cindy Lee and family get together to attend the Festival of the Trees in Salt Lake City.  This is not about their annual adventure.  Thirty plus years ago, when Syd's family planted a bunch of pine tree seedlings. As the trees grew bigger they were cut, often leaving the bottom branch and sold for Christmas trees.  The bottom branch was then staked up and a new tree began to grow and grow and grow.  After many years they got too big and not really ideal for Christmas trees, as they grew and grew and grew.  Eventually, some were thinned out.  But there was still on problem.  Pine trees like to shed needles and pinecones year round.  This problem makes for extra work when it comes time to mow and water.   Afton was getting tired of the extra work and wanted them all cut down. We compromised and said we would cut a few this year and maybe more next year and see how it all went. 



The boys in action.  Give them a chainsaw and they are in heaven.



We put a call out to the Hendrix/Walk bunch.  They jumped at the chance to get together and participate in the Festival of the Trees cutting down, especially since it meant using chainsaws and train rides.   

The rope was tied to the tree to guide it in the direction it needed to fall.  After it settled on the ground the men cut off the branches, which were hauled to the burn pit and the trunk was cut into three foot logs.  The logs where loaded on the trailer. 



Hauling the cut logs


The kids love to pile on the trailer and ride along. 

Even the adults like to ride, even though it is shorter to walk, but there is something about everyone riding.

No fair, the kids get to ride

Every jumps into help, even the little ones.  They quickly realize that it takes team work to tackle the job. 

Everyone unloads

 

Even the little guys help, it take team work but they do it.

There is never any problem getting someone to mow the lawn.  April was excited to do it, as it had been more than nine years since it had been her turn.

The lawn get mowed

Cousins are so much fun

The day was a hot one.  Lots of water was consumed and poured on each other to cool off.  The sun was generous in the burns it gave to those who chose to let it, despite the frequent use of sunblock.

Cooling off

Fudgesicles at four.  We were due for a break.  Some wore as much as they ate. 

F. A. F.

As the day wore on we ran water in the ditch.  The kids had a waterfight. 

after the work comes the fun

The fire was kept going all day, burning the branches off the trees.  Those burning it were jealous of the little ones and their waterfight. 

burning the branches, an all day process

Poor little B-boo. She was running a temperature and felt terrible most of the time.  She did feel well enough for a little swing time between naps.  She was a real trouper.

Finally it is time for a little swing time

Grandma with her newest great-grandchild

Trying out Grandma's green apples....SOUR

 

At last it is the adult turn to relax.

Ten trees later, everyone was tired.  We had a delicious supper of grilled chicken and dutch oven potatoes.  Then it was time for the highlight of the day.

Train Rides!



the newest train rider



The engineer and his son





The engineer and his neices.

The engineer and his daughter

What a cuties (mom covering ears so the train horn doesn't scare him)

We are the luckiest people in the world, because we have such a great family who will help out, despite it being hard work.  We enjoy the day, we enjoy the company, and we enjoy the fruits of our labor.  The yard looks better.

 

The perfect end to beautiful day.



Just having fun

Earlier this summer John, Jacque and the kids came up for a few days. It is always nice when the family comes. Besides keeping Grandma busy they work and have fun. (Thnks big time!)
What visit wouldn't be complete without a train ride or two and of course pictures.

Carson checks out Patricks screaming technique as they come through the tunnel.
Silly Patrick poses for a few pictures.

We even got Grandma to ride the train. Who can turn down this little one.

Several weeks later April passed through and the kids took time to ride the go-karts.

Tyler and Sierra.

Trayce is finally big enough to handle it by himself.

It's always fun when family comes.

Work Day 2010

It has been a cold and wet spring. Mother Nature is just going to give in and let us have a real spring. Every once in a while she will throw in a teaser, one beautiful day. It just so happened that one of those days was our annual family work day on the farm. It couldn't have been any better. Sure made the work fun. With many hands, big and small, we be accomplished a lot. Lawns were mowed and raked, trees trimmed, ditches cleaned and burned, raspberries cleaned and weeded, trains riden, food eaten and the big project, putting a new roof on the cabin were all a success. The men got to show off their power tool skills, sniff the fumes from the chain saw, and show off how high they could run up the side of the cabin.

Gathering the perfect peice of wood for the fire. It's what we do, gather up stray twigs, raspberry canes, and other stuff, and at the end of the day we burn them. If the weather is good enough we roast hotdogs and marshmellows. It's the icing on the day.

Up to the forest is a swing, hung from one of the tall trees. It's the highlight of those (young and old children) who go up there, swinging high and low. B though it would be interesting to lick the pole. Luckily it was summer so his tongue didn't stick.

The chimney cap spends more time on the ground than on the chimney. Why? B was fascinated with it, we told him it was hat to protect his head when he rad into trees. He tried it out.

Definitely my favorite men on the job. S and P were pondering the next step of the roofing project.

Big kids use the swing up to the forest, little ones at the house.

N-N wanted to help. He latched on to some clippers that were almost bigger than him and tackled a bush. Needless to say, the bush got the better of him. He walked away leaving the clippers behind.

K & P taking a break.

Grandma watching the progress and making sure no one got hurt.

Loaded with tools and supplies, heading up to the forest

C takes a slide break

K is gloved and ready to work, obviously the gloves are a bit big but he didn't care. He was part of the crew.

They didn't fit R any better.

C and K peeking out from the caboose

Lunch break (Cindy Lee, it was delicious)

All aboard, the work is done and now the real fun begins.

Train rides for everyone

One of the highlights is the old tractor. Everyone likes to drive it. Only problems was it just wouldn't run properly. After some real frustrations, they put it away. The next day S put some gas in it and it ran like a charm. If only we had known that was it's problem.

W & M catching their ride

Off to the left you can see the flames of the bonfire. It doesn't take log for it to burn down to perfect coals.

It's always a lot of work, but when we work together it's almost fun.

Family Reunion

It's reunion time and with a Beazer reunion come certain things. Lots of food, good memories and of course train rides. Dinner this year was held across the road at Krupp Scout Hollow, which was originally the Beazer homestead and is now a cub scout day camp and other scouting things. (sorry I didn't get any pictures) The older relatives enjoyed reminiscing about what used to be where and the what they did. There was plenty of grass for the little ones to run and play. The only draw back was the dark clouds and brisk wind which kept coats on everyone. After eating and playing the action moved across the road to Beazerville and the Beazer ShortLine. Hats and scarves were handed out to all the little ones and off they went on their adventures/rides. Giggles and screams of delight were heard for the next two hours as they boarded, changed seats, rang the bell and just had fun. There were several that even snuck into the raspberry patch, and one that was bound, gagged and tied to the track

Some of the original train riders.

Gay, Beverly, Beth, Afton (Dick's wife) and Gerald the engineer.

Some of the older kids set up a game of horseshoes in the garden.

Like all good reunions we met some new-to-the-reunion cousins, gave rides to lots of first timers, old and young, and enjoyed ourselves. Even the bored teenagers seemed to have fun.

Let's do it again in a few years.