The Yard Saga

We have gone and done it (or rather, had it done): we cleared out all the weird stuff from the yard. This picture below is a photo of the backyard when we moved in. Roomy, but so not practical and actually unsafe we found out. There was some pond back there that the previous owner was all proud of, but we hated it. There was an old old shed. Lots of lava and river rock. Randomly placed bushes and trees and brick pathways completed this ensemble. We saw the potential and some work, but we were do wrong: it was a LOT of work.One morning a couple of weeks ago, I headed out there with my rake and shovel in hand. About 10 minutes into stacking those cement stones, I uncovered these bad boys.Oh yeah, I don't THINK so!! I grabbed my children and ran inside, locked the doors and we didn't go out after that! These snakes were yuck, like overgrown earthworms. And they were hiding out under all those lava rock and cement stones. Oh my. I called Matt and pleasantly told him that unless he wanted to spend the next couple of years doing this every weekend, we were going to hire someone. So we did hire someone, thank you husband so so much!! A guy in our new ward brought some people out (translation: he made a trip over the Home Depot and came home with some dudes) and in 2-3 days cleared out the front and back completely. They must have taken over a dozen trips to the dump. They hauled away all our trash from indoor remodel as well. The trimmed out trees, transplanted some of the bushes and plants, stacked all the leftover brick on the side of the house so that we could use it for our landscaping plans. They took down a two story juniper tree that we shared with our neighbors and cut it up for firewood for us. They hauled it all out. It was a handful of cash I tell you, but sooooo worth it! That was months and months of work for Matt and I. I think the best part was seeing his face when he saw that back cleared out for the first time. He came home from work that first day and I just see this immense relief cross it and I thought it was worth every penny to see that look.

This is what it looks like now. We are still deciding on how exactly we want it designed, but mostly it will be sod, with a garden area and possibly a brick perimeter and sidewalk. We sure have tons of brick! That back corner is the only shade so Matt wants a few strategically placed trees. We might put in a swingset. I want to eventually have a garden. We aren't sure if we are going to do this ourselves or hire the same guy to do it all. He gave us an estimate, but we are still deciding.So this is what the front of the house looked like when we moved in. Lots of yucky plants and that juniper tree peeking out on the right hand side. It now looks like this. Dirt, I know, but I cannot tell you how many neighbors have commented how much better it looks. We are still deciding on the landscaping here. I will take ANY suggestions gladly!!

Here is our street...isn't it pretty? I will take a moment here and tell you about some of the people we have met. Our neighbors to our right are a young couple with two kids just like us and he loves the Dodgers. Matt has talked with them a few times and they sure are nice, he says. One day when I get a minute I will meet them myself :) On the eve before our big backyard haul-out, we headed over to the neighbors on our left to see if they didn't mind us getting rid of the big juniper tree we shared. Well, they invited us in and we talked and chatted for about an hour. They are an older couple, he is a retired FBI agent (shout out LANCE!) and she is an interior designer. They are from Texas and just the sweetest people ever. He has a houseful of western collections and memorabilia, including Texas horns everywhere, John Wayne memorabilia, western art--cowboys and indians. It is like a museum from the wild wild west. The whole time I was like, my dad would LOVE this place and afterwards that was the first thing Matt said to me. We have seen them a few times, and they sure love our kids. They have three daughters they raised and one lives with them. She studies birds for a living and has bird sanctuaries in the backyard. Across the street from us is a wonderful couple and she brought over roses and huge cookies for us when we moved in. Very sweet. I have met several people that live on other streets in the neighborhood. It has such a fun atmostphere. In the afternoons I see all the kids out riding their bikes and playing in the cul-de-sacs. In the evenings I see families and couples out walking dogs and pushing kids in strollers. Reagan's new thing is going for bike rides. It is a great peaceful neighborhood and I think we will really enjoy it.

Stay tuned for more on the yard!