Many Hands

Like an old fashioned barn-raising, when we needed help the word went out and the cavalry came. Unlike a barn-raising this project involved large-scale demolition. This house has a long list of (as my bro-in-law, Bruce put it) "enhancements" from the previous owner that need undoing. First on our punch list was the tons (literally) of concrete in the backyard that the guy laid down to make a spot for his hot tub. In the process of creating his little backyard retreat, he excavated the fill from the footings of the house, and the dirt has actually eroded UNDERNEATH the footing in one spot (you can see it in the photo below).

Anyway, Mike and I have been scratching our heads on how to proceed for a while now. It's been hard to know where to begin because once you begin one thing it leads to another, and is complicated by this or that. As I described it to my family, our backyard is a project within a project...wrapped in a enigma.
My parents showed up early and my mom and dad dug right in (because my mom had a bee in her bonnet about this and once she decides something, get out of the way). I tried to hold them off for a little, until the young guns could arrive, because Mom still thinks she's 25, and I didn't want any back injuries.

My parents + Mike's dad + all of my siblings, save Sean (who's up in Logan)  + about 15 kids + my 87 year old grandma all pitched in for about 4 hours and we cleared our backyard of concrete.  They broke up and hauled away just under 6 TONS of rubble. (I have the receipts from the dump to prove it.) Thank goodness my brother Casey is a professional mason.That came in handy. Thank goodness my brother-in-law Bruce has excavated more dirt than all of us combined in all of his archaeological digs. He had some expertise. Thank goodness for that dumping trailer my dad owns.It sure made the disposal a heck of a lot easier. Thank goodness for strong backs and hands. Even my sweet grandma moved her share of rubble. I know now that with enough faith and people you can move a mountain with a few sledge hammers, pry bars and wheel barrows.

I'm not kidding you when I say that the kids worked the entire time along side us. There's just something about a good demolition project - like moths to flame. "Really!? You WANT us to break something?"

 Bruce taking it to the last chunk of concrete. Excellent form.

After all the excitement we fired up the grill and had a BBQ. We gathered all the grandchildren (sans Abner, the youngest, who was down for a nap) for a photo op. (As you can see we lured them in for the picture with Popsicles.)

When I looked at the clean slate in our backyard after everyone left I felt so amazed and blessed. There's no way we could have done it alone.

We felt the love.