We are finally done... Well, almost...

Chad promised me that this year we would finally finish the yard. We have almost been in our house for 4 years, so I guess I think that I deserve to finally get the dirt all covered up. Back in May Chad and I got going and did little of anything else. We knew that it would get too hot to be out there very soon, and I am so glad we did, we were right! Because our yard is pretty sloped, the first project was the two planters and stone walkway. We picked out all the stone and had it delivered. We did all the labor. Here is Chad hard at work. I was so glad that I have a husband who is not only unafraid of hard work, but is excellent at basically all he does. If it was left up to my skills, it just wouldn't have worked out right.The boys were also hard at work playing with Bryton, our neighbor, and his sweet slide. I think it might be a little bit too small :)After that, we had to finish this area. We knew we wanted a garden, but was unsure about what else to do with it. To see the finish product... keep reading :)Poor Po. While the boys were playing on the slide, Po wouldn't stop chasing them. Sam ended up getting tired of that and decided to attach his leash to Bryton's fence. The poor dog couldn't go anywhere. I looked over and saw him like this a few times that morning, and had to rescue the little fella.Tada! Here is the finished planters and walkway. We also painted the garage door, and that made quite a difference.Well, I am a little bit out of order here, but these are our raspberry bushes in the new garden.We decided to try the square-foot gardening method and so Chad built me three boxes to fill with plants. I have become a big tomato fan and I also wanted to try the "Topsy Turvy's" to grow lots of tomatoes this year. (Sam wanted to be in the pictures too).This is the complete garden. I absolutely love this side of my house now! I love the walkway, and the raised garden beds. We have not seen the fruits or "vegetables" of our harvest quite yet, but I am confident we will soon. It is our first garden, so we are definitely still learning.The other side of the garden with our raspberry bushes on the left and our new window well coverings.. yay!!!So, why did I take so long to post these pictures? Well, as you can see, our deck is still without steps or railings. I was expecting Chad to finish the deck before now so I could post our finished yard once and for all. Well my friends, that finished deck post will have to come next month, or next year, depending on when Chad gets the motivation and the time to do it. However, we did get 2 trees planted, bushes, flowers and bark to finish off the rest of the backyard. Finally I have a dirt free yard, and I am loving it!