a HUGE thank you!!

::NOTE:: this is LONG but oh, the magic that ACTUALLY happened.

This weekend we were busy little bees. As I mentioned before we completely renovated the ENTIRE backyard. My mom and dad came up to Houston Friday night so hey could drop off a few tools and so we could get a good early start on Saturday morning. So, at about 8 am my parents, ryan and I, ryan's father, John and a couple friends, Kelley and J were all here and ready to undergo what would end up being a 12 hour job. (i am still sore today, it hurts to cough. ha!) We got a bobcat, 4 pallets of grass, and one fat pile of sand and got to work. Luckily, we have one HUGE red oak in the backyard so it was shady for most of the afternoon,(but it was still a good nice and humid 95+) without that we would have certainly had some heat stroke issues. The bobcat was fun and interesting.....not one of us had ever driven it before and so the boys had a fun time figuring it all out. It's a little difficult because there are two pedals and two joysticks, all of which do something different. Ryan and my dad did most of the driving, I stayed away from it.

So the process of the backyard was as follows: Clear out the remaining weeds and trees, Fill in the pond with the dirt around it (for some reason they built the pond HIGHER than the house....not smart when it rains.) and level out the backyard. Then lay sand to further even out the land and to help the sod grow a little better. Next lay sod. Last, water everything like crazy.

Here are the results....

BEFORE

AFTER :)

Some more befores...

part of the pond area.

we came across quite a bit of wildlife in the backyard as well.

ryan did a great job on the bobcat! Great job hun!

quite a tight fit to the backyard, but dad did AWESOME!!

dirt and sod makes us happy.

John working hard!

J and my madre digging up the never ending pile of lava rocks.

nearing the end.

our sweet red oak, probably 50 years old. it's grown through the chain link.

and one last shot of all of the hard work!!!!

I really was there working, I know I am not in any of the pictures but I promise I worked as well. Actually, I worked all day until I had to go to real work. After I finally got home (around 11:30p.m.) All I could do was stare at the amazingness that had happened in my absence. I even get a little emotional about it, strange I know. Ryan and I were talking just about how amazing it was that we had an idea, then a plan and then LOTS of help and just that it all worked out perfectly and we can say that WE did it. That is probably why it's that much more special.

BUT WAIT, THERE"S MORE...

Sunday morning I woke up and decided I would go ahead and attack the front yard because if I didn't just get up and do it, it would be a hot mess for a while. And I was already sore so why not. All I did really was take up half the garden and lay down some more sod. I just didn't like that half the yard was mulch.....and I am not much of a gardener so it would always be mulch and I think grass is prettier. So, I dug up the weeds, monkey grass and stones and Ryan took out the extra mulch. I laid down some sand, leveled it out and added the grass. I don't have the best shots of the front but you can kinda see how it was before.

BEFORE

AFTER

All I can say is that we are now the proud owners of an amazing backyard and are so pleased with everything!! I think this may actually help me become a better gardener because even though it was a lot of hard work it was a lot of fun. The dogs DEFINITELY love the new grass. Before they would just tip toe around and try to find somewhere flat to potty but now they are free to roam and they are soooooooo happy with it. What else is nice is we get a lot of birdies in the morning as well. They love to play in the sprinklers and take their baths. Sawyer likes to stalk them and chase them out of the backyard. It's pretty cute.

BUT what is most important is that we were so blessed to have those who voluntarily helped us. With out Lynn, Alan, John, Jonathan and Kelley none of this would have happened!!! We are truly so blessed to have those around us who will help with the projects that aren't so fun! We can't thank you enough!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! We LOVE you all and are now FOREVER indebted to you all! (or until you have a backyard that needs help.)