Hooray for summer...

...and a new backyard!!

It is so nice to have sunny weather! I just hope it lasts for longer than a day or two. We've had way too much rain and wind. I'm saying this now, but I know in the 90 - 100 degree weather of August I'll be wishing for the cooler, and rainier, days of May.

In November of last year the amazing young men (and their equally amazing leader and his wife) in our ward decided that they wanted to do a service project. I'm not exactly sure how it all came about, but they picked our huge, dirt filled backyard as their project, all unbeknowst to us. When we went on our annual Thanksgiving trip to No. California, those young men got busy and started our backyard. They leveled it all out, put in a sprinkler system, and poured a huge concrete patio. When we got back from our trip a week later (at close to 10 pm), they were waiting for us with a huge spotlight, tiki torches and a fire in our chiminea (a Christmas gift from 2 yrs. earlier that we had never been able to use!). They also installed a tether ball pole and ball and they gave us a new patio set. It was amazing and we were in awe and very humbled. We couldn't wait for spring to put in grass! A great gift right? Well, they weren't done. They decided that they wanted to finish what they started. So in April they got together with a landscaper in our ward and finished up the sprinklers with a timer, and brought in 4 pallets of beautiful sod! They invited the young women and elders quorum to help too. They also showed up with a new picnic table for the kids. The grass is gorgeous, those young men (there are only 3 in our ward, and two of them are brothers) are amazing, and we are soooo grateful! It has been so nice to have the boys outside playing in an enclosed backyard and not have to worry about their soccer balls going into the street, etc. They love not having to wait for me to have a free moment to go out front and watch them as they play, which is what we use to have to do.

I love our ward!

April 12, 2008 The laying of the sod!

And now, the finished project!

Now that we have the backyard, all manner of summer fun has begun! Hooray for summer!!

Anthony and Luca playing in the sprinklers.

Good times playing in the wood chips and on the "castle"