The pavers arrived this week 'paving the way' for our deck to be installed! (thank you! I'm here all week!)

Now that the holidays are upon us, it's really hard to tell when the actual work will begin. Can't seem to get a firm answer out of anyone right now. So in the meantime, the pavers sit on the driveway as a mock reminder that the backyard is a sandbox!

Since everything in the backyard isn't leveled out yet, a little bit of rain puddles up pretty badly, so it needs to be filled in a little sometimes.

Stay tuned for the next installment, soon hopefully!

I know you are all on the edges of your seats, waiting for new updates, but you may be in waiting for a bit longer. We are now waiting for the pavers to arrive and the work on the deck to begin. As you may know, a very big holiday is approaching and I'm sure it will make the wait even longer since the crews will most likely get a few days off.

Stay tuned and enjoy the holiday music!

Lots of stuff to report since the last post! Some inside stuff, some outside stuff, a little bit for everyone!

First off, we passed our second round of inspections and hopefully today will bring closure to the huge moat dug around the soon-to-be-deck area. We are so paranoid that someone, either human or canine, is going to break a leg while out back. So far, everyone of the canine ilk thinks it's really great fun to sail across the ditches and pretend we've built an obstacle course especially for them!

Progress was made in the bathroom/dressing room this weekend as well!

Jen can now add to her resume, installing a toilet, laying baseboard and installing frameless shower doors! Isn't it all coming together nicely?! That girl is a jack-of-all-trades I tell you! She really did a great job!

Now that the first inspection is clear, everything got leveled and prepped for the footers to be poured. We expect that the pavers will start going down sometime next week.

We passed!

One down, two to go!

Since there won't be any work on the pool for a couple of days while we wait on inspection, we thought it might be nice to see a cute montage of Karly and Mason's feelings regarding the demolition of their backyard---enjoy!

Karly is not at all sure of what is happening in the yard, but has decided to focus her attention on the big blue thing which has taken up residence right where the bird feeders used to be. She walks around the pool and looks in, goes from side to side inspecting the leaves and dirt. Eventually she retreats back to higher ground and ponders her next move. We think she may suspect it is a huge bathtub and at any moment we may try to bathe her, so its best not to get too close! She is so sweet and full of wonder!

Mason, on the other hand, is absolutely overjoyed that we have gotten rid of all the grass and he is able to snoot around in the dirt, dig in the dirt, wallow in the dirt, and occasionally help pull up the roots that the crew so sloppily left behind!

In this pose, Mason skillfully models the latest trend in sand lipstick!

Look at this form! The ears...the lips...perfection!

Have you ever seen a happier face? Oh! I love this dog!

The pool arrived bright and early, on time and ready to find it's resting place in our backyard!

Unfortunately, we hit a snag which brought the progress to a screeching halt... the hole wasn't deep enough! Soooo, back to the digging and leveling and then it fits nice!

Earlier in the week we had gotten an estimate of $500 to remove the brick patio which you see in the photos. By the end of the week the quote had changed to $750 and Jen and I were starting to feel a bit swindled, so we began to use the wits our dads taught us regarding these matters and contracted the job ourselves! One guy offered to break it up for the price of a six- pack (we gave him $80) and another guy is picking it up and disposing for $300. So for the low low price of $380, we have gotten rid of a buttload of brick!

The next morning all the plumbing started and now we are just awaiting our first inspection on Monday!

The vista that once was our backyard looks a bit in shambles, but with a bit of imagination a vision of relaxing spring evenings and quiet mornings with coffee and the paper are starting to emerge.