Backyard

I didn't think I had anything to blog about and then I realized I never showed off the back yard that we have been working on all summer. Mike mowed it last night and can I say how nice it is to have grass and not dirt anymore!! Love it!

Our house is up pretty high on the property and our back yard was a big steep hill to the back wall. We didn't want one big hill so we brought in lots of dirt (only 48 yards), boulders and built up the side yard to have a big area that is flat (well mostly flat) so the kids could play and not always be rolling down the hill. Although, Jack and Jill went up the hill....

First project was the deck. I guess because the builder Richmond was cheap, they didn't put stairs on the deck, so that was first up on our list. The day the stairs were put in, a concrete guy was across the street and I talked him into (rather I believe he talked me into it) putting a small pad at the bottom of the stairs. Enough for our 3 chairs! One day we'll do the RV pad and it will have a nice big pad and maybe a basketball hoop!! One day!!

Next was boulders..I showed pictures months ago my dad putting them in. After the boulders were in place, Mike dug out and put in the stairs. I love the extra help they are to get down the yard. They are so heavy only a couple hundred pounds each.

Here is the back yard from the deck looking across at the boulders. Jack and I planted the bushes and daffodils last week. Still need lots and lots of plants to fill in the gaps.


And the side of the yard was a big open space just calling for a trampoline. I really had to talk Mike into this one. Growing up I had one, but Mike did not. He once said "my kids will never have a tramp because I didn't." Guess who won that battle. Thanks to my Mary Kay proceeds for sporting the bill!! Wow, can I say how nice this is. Even Lexi loves to come out and walk around. She isn't as into jumping yet, one day!!

A lot of the dirt we brought in came on this side of the tramp, we had to build up the North end to allow the tramp to be underground. Another tricky point with having your back yard being a hill. I love how it turned out. One day, bushes will line both fences.

oh uh, jack fell down and broke his crown...

Another picture from the back of the yard looking towards the house. You can see how the house is higher then where I am standing to take the picture.

This picture was taken from all the way back. Here is our cute "little" play set we had in Boise and our new swing set. To the left of the swing set is our garden. Hopefully soon we'll start the garden boxes. We need to bring in a ton of manure and dirt and build boxes and then it'll be ready for a garden next year.

Oh, how I have missed having a garden this year. We have really missed our raspberries, peach tree and of course the tomatoes and green beans.

Here is Maddy, she especially loves the slide. It is pretty fast too.

And everyone loves the sand box. I love how it stays shady all day. It's amazing how many kids can fit in here too.

And that's the backyard. We'll be putting in a fence on the west side next year and adding lots of bushes and trees. My dad says there is always something to do in the yard. I agree it is a never ending project!