Yardwork and Birthday Hike

Rented a skid-steer today to get things prepped to pour our back patio.

Of course little Fynnie was beyond excited to ride in the "kid-deer".

Jesse had a load of gravel delivered and he spent the day getting it all in place. 

Always so fun to watch him work. Even thought he will tell you that he has driven enough heavy machinery to last him the rest of his life. So he doesn't get as excited about it as the rest of the boys do.

Let me rant about this wall for a moment. A year and a half ago our backyard neighbor came to us about a week before he was leaving on a mission with his wife. His retaining wall starting to fail and he wanted to build a wall in our yard to hold up his wall while he was on his mission. Since Jesse at that time was dealing with the foundation of the addition just finishing and starting to get dirt backfilled around it. Needless to say, Jesse was in a head space where he couldn't even think about dealing with our neighbor. So he at the time just told him that he cold build this wall on our property before he left on his mission. Well, he just went to Lowe's and bought blocks to build up 6 ft high and filled it with dirt. It was done in a hurry and it looked so funky sticking out into our yard all out of place. He left on his mission and the whole time he was gone I just didn't like that wall. But we had bigger things to worry about at that time.

Fast forward to a month ago when thousands of LDS missionaries were sent home from all around the world. Which means our neighbor was brought home too. 

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While we were prepping for the backyard I was trying to figure out how to make this wall look better. The way that he finished it was just terrible. If you look at that picture above you can see how it stuck out of the yard and how he filled the gaps in with random rocks, pavers and wood chunks. Ugly right? 

Well while we were prepping we were noticing that the wall seemed to be tipping a little bit. So we put a level on the top of it, and sure enough it was tilting into our yard. Also when we pulled a few of the side blocks down to the "foundation" and sure enough the treated wood that he placed on top of the dirt was also tipping into our yard. It's only been a year and a half and this wall is already showing signs of failing. What to do? I stressing me out. 

Mike and Heidi came out for a little bit to help us. I have loved being home this month to get to work in the yard with my boys. I was happy to see Mike and Heidi come out, but also feeling bad that it's Heidi's birthday and didn't want her working in the yard on her birthday. But she insisted. She actually took Murphy and Fynn on a walk while the rest of us worked on leveling out all the gravel. 

Jesse prepping the corrugated steel for suspended slab part of the patio. Which is the back 3rd of the garage where his future shop will be. YAY!

Mike was moving the logs away from the area we were working and it turned into a game. Ryker, Cy and Fynn (even though he's not in this picture) were pulling the wheel barrow while grandpa was pushing it. We were all laughing about it as he was yelling "On Dasher, On Prancer..."

After a good stopping point we all went to Salt Lake to grab some Chik fil a and head over to Memory Grove to celebrate Heidi's birthday. Covid style. We were actually shocked how many people were at the park. It's quarantine time and everyone just wants to be outside. 

 Heidi is someone I just love SO MUCH! I burst into tears when I truly think about it. She has always been such a support to me. Such a giver of her love and time. I can't stand the thought of her not being in my life. Thanks to the best mom for being who she is and loving me so unconditionally. Happy Birthday!

These boys are so blessed with this lady as their grandmother.

Fynn would have picked every flower he saw just to give to me. I had to stop him so there would be some left for other people to enjoy.

I did end up with quite the bouquet arrangement though. What a sweet boy. 

Haha, oh this boy. When he has his mind set on something, it's impressive. He found this tire in the creek, and it was in quite good condition. I think Mike or Jesse mentioned selling it for $30 or something like that and Cy decided that he was going to bring that tire all the way home to sell it. So that's what he did. He carried it the whole rest of the way back to the truck.