Bob and Anna: December 2011

Surprise Ending!

Anna's search for a part-time Web job this year resulted in an offer for a full-time Web Developer position. And she accepted it!

Wow! What a way to ring in the New Year!

One of the best surprises this season was that the neighbor decided to cut down the monstrous willow oak tree that sat between our houses. There will now be thousands fewer skinny leaves & tiny acorns clogging our gutters and littering our front stoop, garden and yard!

The crane used to remove the huge pieces of tree.

Of course cutting down a tree of this size is quite a feat, and provided some thrilling entertainment to watch...

The tree climber, performing some pre-climbing stretches and mental focusing exercises. (click for bigger picture)

The job was complicated by its proximity to two houses, and lots of wires.

A huge section of tree being lowered by the crane into the cul-de-sac for processing.

Making progress!

Getting ready to cut off a particularly big and heavy section...

There it goes, up and over the wires. Notice the tree climber in bottom of the photo.

If we had gotten a picture of Anna doing a Happy Dance, we'd insert it here...

Christmas Cave Trip

Thanks to the young adult generation of the family -- our nieces and nephews -- the idea of a caving trip over their Christmas holiday was born! This idea turned into a whirlwind expedition: drive to the PSC field house on Dec. 26th, spend the night, go caving the next day and drive home. We successfully accomplished this goal with 13 people; there were no mishaps, much fun was had by all, and many memories were created.

Laura and Marty getting ready.