The Giving Tree

 The last week of October one of the best trees ever got cut down. It was hard to see it go and every time I drive by Dale and Margaret's house I miss seeing the majesty of it. As I went through all the photos with this tree, I thought of two words: happiness and family.

Here it is in its glory!

The best part of this tree was that it had the most of amazing swing that went along with it. All the grand kids and adults have loved this swing and spent countless hours swinging back and forth to see how high they could get and if they were lucky, their feet would touch the roof of the garage. I have loved over the years looking out the side door to see cousins playing together around the swing, taking turns on the swing, twisting each other to see how dizzy they could get as they spun around and around, and watching older cousins and siblings push the little ones. The swing brought so much joy and happiness.

Here's a little blast from the past with more photos of the beloved swing over the years.

This was Baylor's first time going on the swing by herself. She loved it and it's sad that she would only get to enjoy it for a few weeks.

There was a photo shoot the day before the tree got cut down. I wasn't there since I had to get Paige from school but I wish I was. Just looking at these pictures makes me laugh and Nate said that he wished he could have recorded the entire process. These pictures show how much this tree has meant to the Smith family- full of smiles, laughter, and love.

Once I got there with the girls, of course more photos!

The sad day came but it was also pretty cool to be able to see some of the process as they cut it down. Baylor and I were there and it was cute watching Baylor go from window to window to watch the action.

All cut down!

 Nate was sad to see it go and I am sure he has way more memories that he could tell you about this giving tree. 

The swing has of course brought so much fun and joy but other things I can think of are the beauty that the tree brought to the yard with every season especially in the fall; the abundance of leaves that brought work but also fun as we got to jump in the piles of giant leaves; the raccoons, squirrels, and birds that made it their home and that my kids got so excited to see each time; the sweet memories of Paige putting out squirrel food around the rocks with Nona and Pops; the beauty of flowers depending on the time of year that bordered the tree; the scary hole down at the bottom that everyone dared each other to put their arm in but everyone was way too chicken to actually do it and we always said it would be the perfect hiding place for a hidden immunity if we were on Survivor; and last the countless pictures, memories, and moments that were captured around that tree or with the tree looming in the background.

 "And she loved a boy very, very much- even more than she loved herself." (The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein)