Friday night my mom tended Brandon while Jared and I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. It was cheesy but still a lot of fun, and a little scary!
Saturday was the big project day!
When we moved into our home nearly 2 years ago we inherited a very ugly green house/shed with the house,
on the side of it there was an even uglier compost heap (which Maggie loved to climb on top of to peek out at the world). 
Well last winter we sold the shed, and at the beginning of the month after a day of hard work I was able to fill our garbage can, and flower beds with soil and compost, and now the compost heap is no more! 
Then began the debate of what to do with the space. Some of the options included, a play set for Brandon, a new shed, a second vegetable garden or a stone patio with a dining set. We decided on the stone patio. So for my birthday present I got 72 beautiful 12" square red stones. I know you think that is a strange birthday present, but it is what I really wanted! On Saturday Jared helped me install our new patio. We spent the day buying and hauling stones
and sand, clearing away sod, 
dirt and mulch so that the area was 3" deep, then we filled the area with 8 bags of paving sand, then we very carefully placed the stones, and the finishing touch was filling in all the cracks with more paving sand.
Jared and I are still very sore, but it was worth it and I love the way it turned out, I can not wait to get a table, and some plants to finish it completely!
on the side of it there was an even uglier compost heap (which Maggie loved to climb on top of to peek out at the world). Well last winter we sold the shed, and at the beginning of the month after a day of hard work I was able to fill our garbage can, and flower beds with soil and compost, and now the compost heap is no more! Then began the debate of what to do with the space. Some of the options included, a play set for Brandon, a new shed, a second vegetable garden or a stone patio with a dining set. We decided on the stone patio. So for my birthday present I got 72 beautiful 12" square red stones. I know you think that is a strange birthday present, but it is what I really wanted! On Saturday Jared helped me install our new patio. We spent the day buying and hauling stones and sand, clearing away sod, dirt and mulch so that the area was 3" deep, then we filled the area with 8 bags of paving sand, then we very carefully placed the stones, and the finishing touch was filling in all the cracks with more paving sand. Jared and I are still very sore, but it was worth it and I love the way it turned out, I can not wait to get a table, and some plants to finish it completely!Sunday was truly a day of rest, which allowed us to jump into our Monday with energy.
You are all probably very aware of our love for animals. For years Jared and I would give each other a zoo membership for our anniversary. When we found out we were expecting Brandon one of the things we looked forward to the most was taking him to the zoo. We love animals so much we even decorated Brandon's room in a safari animal theme. Well we could wait no longer, so despite rainy, windy weather we embarked on our adventure (an ill planned expedition!). It turned out to be a terrific outing! We enjoyed seeing the animals being more active because of the weather, 
and we loved watching Brandon observe the animals,
but my favorite part was watching Jared get so excited about Brandon. 
Brandon seemed to enjoy to Giraffes and the Monkeys the most!
My favorite animals were the Bears and Elephants. 
Jared liked the Red Panda, and Brandon the best.
and we loved watching Brandon observe the animals, but my favorite part was watching Jared get so excited about Brandon. Brandon seemed to enjoy to Giraffes and the Monkeys the most! My favorite animals were the Bears and Elephants. Jared liked the Red Panda, and Brandon the best. We had a great time at the zoo, we loved the animals, we even enjoyed the rain, although it made me a little home sick for Portland, Oregon. To ease my yearning for Oregon Jared took me to Starbucks to get blueberry coffee cake (unfortunately they did not have merrion-berry muffins) and a peppermint hot chocolate, it was great.
Thanks Jared for a great weekend, and for your help with the patio!
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4 comments:
And Portland misses you! Sounds like a fun day!
What a sweet, happy little family! You guys look like you are relishing every minute with him! He's so cute, though, how could you not?
That is an awesome birthday present! You are so lucky to have such a neat space to eat some future meals! Oh, and I loved the pictures of Brandon at the zoo. I can't wait to take Stella up to SLC one weekend and go to Hogle Zoo. Looks like you guys had a great holiday weekend!
Your patio looks fabulous! I envy you guys for always being so proactive with improvement plans--you do a great job! Sorry we missed you guys at the zoo, our family's health matched the weather that day. Oh well...next time!
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