Exciting season!

I asked Kayliana the other day what she was going to ask Santa to bring for Christmas.  Her response was a very detailed description that went something like this, “A life size kangaroo that you can ride and it has two buttons one that says start and one that says jump and one that says stop.”

So, this doesn’t actually exist.  I told her that, seeing as this is Santa’s busiest season, she might not be able to expect him to invent a brand new toy right now; maybe she could come up with a back-up option.  She sighed and said, “Fine. Playdoh.”

Definitely thinks outside the box, this one.

Mike and I won’t be asking for much, if anything.  We just spent October-November having a huge backyard project done.  We had to have two fifty feet long, four feet high, railroad tie walls removed and rebuilt.  The whole yard was excavated – drainage added, terraced, sod installed, a tree removed, a pad for a shed put in, new flower bed put in, new walls, gravel patio area for an outdoor kitchen installed and a lower one for fire pit area, and a couple of staircases added (including one that goes down into the ravine). The two guys that were here every day were SO incredibly nice and did an incredible job.  It’s so amazing and so exciting and the photos really truly don’t do it justice! We feel so incredibly blessed that we were able (after 4 years of waiting and saving!) to have this project done.  Such an amazing gift.

Here's some old/random before photos:

And after!!! 

Fence gone, new walls, stairs. 

We may eventually add a gate where the brick fireplace is.

Back beyond the BBQ, we're going to add an outdoor bar/counter/kitchen and seating area.

This used to be "grass" that was really just a sloping swamp for 9 months out of the year.

This flat black area is where a shed will go. Flat backyard!!

This area will have a fire pit and more seating.

The yard used to be at the height of the wall and then slope to this level. (The wall is almost 4 feet high, so that's how much they excavated).

My mom gave me the big vase/pot to paint as I pleased. 

Already got a huge hydrangea (my favorite) from my friend's yard. And in the lower right corner of the new flowerbed, there's a "beautyberry." It has amazing bright purple berries and will grow 6 feet x 6 feet.

 Future site of s'mores central!

Stairs up from the ravine.

All of the big rocks/boulders - the guys dug up when excavating the yard. Then they used it in landscaping.

The kids have already loved kicking the soccer ball against the flower bed wall.  

A groundcover/trailing geranium will (hopefully) be growing/spilling out of the tipped pot.