Mother's Day and Bryson's Bday

 The boys made a nice message for Jana. We enjoyed a Honey Baked ham for dinner and did our best to show Jana our love for her. We love her so much!

 Bryson chose to go to Old Spaghetti Factory for his birthday...Ryan is such a good helper with Brady

 Bryson enjoyed the happy birthday singing

 ...big breath...

 ...big blow...

 ...and the eating began...mmmmmmm

 Bryson opened gifts...some lego sets and a new transformer...

...and then he found a new bike. We practiced riding it on Saturday and after a great run for me, he picked it up quickly. He has been riding his scooter for so long that once he realized that balancing on the bike is the same as balancing on the scooter it all came together. There were some great spiritual analogies to teaching Bryson to ride his bike too. I believed in him more than he believed in his capability; it was only when I let go that he learned to balance on his bike for himself and had the joy that came with it versus the fear that he couldn't do it; I had to teach him how to stop and fall and then get back up and go; he enjoyed the thrill of acceleration and the wind blowing through his hair and the association and encouragement of his whole family...fun and sweaty, for me.

Yard is Nearly Done!

 They worked on the sprinklers for a couple of days

 It was a lot of long pipes going everywhere

 Trenches and tunnels to get the irrigation water everywhere it needed to be

 They finished up the rock walls and drew lines for curbing

 It helped us visualize what it would be like and gave us a chance to make changes before the curbing was laid

 It was a lot of curbing...700'

 ...but it gave some interesting character and definition to the yard

This boat pad had sloughed away from the house and had sunk so we had that fixed to flatten it back out and to raise it up...you can see where they drilled holes and pumped concrete in to lift it up and straighten it.

 They put the curbing down over about a day and a half while the landscapers worked on digging the trampoline pit and building the fire pit. By the time the concrete guys had put the curbing all down, the landscapers were already putting bark and sod down!

 They finished nearly all of it up today

 It is a big change from the weed garden of two weeks ago

The kids can't wait to run around. You can see the white pipe near the middle of this picture that will be the drinking fountain. The open square on the corner (foreground) will be a playset for the kids next year. 

 They're excited to jump on the trampoline!

 Once the grass went down the sprinklers went on. You can kind of get a sense for the pathway in the back here. It's about 48" wide all the way around

 The fire pit is coming along nicely. We can't wait to roast marshmallows and make smores next week!

 Next year we will do the fence, trees, shrubs and flowers...

We did a small hedge near the fire pit to create a small barrier between the pit and the walkout basement below. 

 You can see a little more of the path in the back here.

It was good to see Tyler warming up with the guitar near the fire pit. We hope to be singing along next Tuesday when the last part comes in needed to finish it. We're all so excited to get out and play, but we're trying to be patient for the next couple weeks while the grass takes root. It's so fun to see the change from our weed garden!

The Yard Begins!!! Finally!

 So, we've been dealing with a weed garden for a little more than a year now...

...it's not been pleasant...

...so I'm showing some before and during pictures so you can enjoy the change like we are...

from various angles of the house...

not pretty

very dusty and dirty

our neighbors just got their yard in...so now it is our turn...

The first step was to clean it up

...it cleans up nice

we bought an additional strip of land from our neighbors that has this fence on it

this is Brady's blessed sandbox...see last year's blog on this project...fun and rewarding

...but now Brady thinks he is getting a new huge sandbox, we're trying to help him understand that this is where the firepit is going to go

They dropped off some rocks to do the rock walls needed, sounded like thunder when they hit the ground...

Brady is still in denial about his sandbox, so he's just playing in the dirt inside his box...

They completed a couple of the rock walls, one on the corner...

...and one in the front...it has a nice curve to it that is hard to see from this angle.

On Monday they will do another rock wall that continues from the line of the middle wall and wraps around to the back...

They will also build the rock wall and stairs into the fire pit...and start the sprinklers, then top soil and grating will be done, a few bushes and trees in the front will be done, a gas line will be run to the fire pit and it will be built, then curbing and finally...grass! 

Bryson and Brady are excited and have enjoyed playing in the machinery too! More to come next week! They expect to be ready for us to lay the sod next Saturday!

Tyler's Eagle

 It all started with a regular Court of Honor. Ryan received his 2nd Class and 1st Class rank advancements with the associated merit badges.

He did a great job putting the pin on Jana...Brady was excited to be part of the action too.

Then the Eagle Court of Honor commenced. Our Young Men's President who works with Tyler who has been the 1st Assistant in the Priests Quorum spoke of his many positive characteristics and capabilities.

 A description of the Eagle Scout award was given by our District Chairman.

The Eagle Scout award was shown to the audience and given to Tyler...

Jana had the privilege of pinning his Eagle Scout award on his uniform for him...

She did it better than any of us boys have ever done it to her...

I got to put his Eagle Scout neckerchief on him...

Tyler then made the Oath of an Eagle Scout...

Tyler was seated in the Eagle's Nest after that, but there was more...

The Stake gave him a multi-tool...

...after the scout handshake it was all Tyler's...

Additional remarks were given, a slideshow was shown and refreshments served...Brady can't wait to get his Eagle Scout award too!

We're proud of Tyler for earning his Eagle Scout award and setting a great example...and yes, he earned it a year ago and we are just now doing his Eagle Court of Honor...we're trying to draw out the excitement of the award or something like that.