And...we have a yard!

The last few weekends Colin and I have been working really hard at redoing our yard. Since we bought this house in October of 2008 we knew this was a big project for us. Little by little we starting working on it. Taking out those rhodies, raking the leaves, cutting down the tree, killing the grass/weeds, and finally installing sod. It's amazing how much brighter and bigger the yard seems without the rhodies and tree!

Not sure if you remember, but last spring we redid the front yard with the help of our families. I was dying to redo the back yard but we just didn't have enough time and/or money. My goal for this summer was to finish it so I could lay out in the sun and enjoy being at home! We got a new hammock and set up some flower beds. Also we set up our veggie garden in some unused space on the side of the house. I'll have to post a pic of that later. Here are some pictures of our progress...

This was taken the first night we saw the house. We knew we would be buying it before we even saw it because it was Granny & Gramps rental property that they graciously sold to us.

Here is the mess of a yard we had last weekend! The sprinkler systems were already installed and we were just waiting to finish prepping the yard. Notice the tree and rhodie is gone!

Almost done prepping. The sprinklers were marked by the orange flags. Also I made a flower bed to the right, next to the house, which has different kinds of flowers and shrubs.

Looking from the back corner of our yard (near the fire pit). We were about 1/2 way done laying the sod. And yes, it's super muddy because it rained on us all morning!

Looking the other way. 1/2 way done. Colin's dad came to help for a couple hours which was MUCH appreciated! His mom did something just a great - brought us pizza when we were starving! ;)

All done. The fire pit will be so neat once we get the gravel in around it and cut the tree's limbs above it.

Wa - La! Beautiful! Sprinklers are on, now we just wait for the roots to set! We had to buy some chicken wire so the dogs don't dig up the yard while we're waiting for it to set.

Excited? YES!!! And muddy. But I'd rather be muddy and tired and have a nice back yard that I can enjoy this summer than be squeeky clean with the old back yard!

I knew we'd be excited for the final product but I had NO idea we'd be this happy. And now that we have 2 dogs they'll need a place to run and play without getting muddy. I think we'll be spending a LOT of time outside this summer - and who knows, maybe another puppy? (Ok, totally just kidding. These 2 are enough for me...for now.)

Now...on the the next project. ;)