The Yard Saga

This week Dr Skinner took the week off for U.E.A. So, I thought that I would add A LOT of pictures and let you know what we have been up to the last couple months:

Back in April, we decided that we wanted to try and get the yard done for summer..... Dale had a week off of work and we thought oh will be able to get it done then. Man, if we only knew what the job would have entailed....Here we are in October and we are still trying to finish it, Maybe will be able to enjoy it before the winter comes?!?!?!

Here is our yard before we started the project.

We wanted to have some flower beds and mounds with some bushes through out the yard. In order for us to do that we had to cut out the existing grass where we wanted them, so that meant that we would hand dig them out with the shovel. Let me tell you not an easy task. Good thing that we have wonderful family close that was able to help us. Thanks Dave!!!

We also need to bring a lot of top soil in to build up the mounds and to make the backyard a little more level. Thanks to Dave and Michelle again they came to the rescue. They just happen to have some extra dirt that they had, so we were able to use that. It's a good thing that we had access to a dump truck and a tracker.(Thanks Floyd) We were able to get the dump truck going and use that to haul the dirt.

The dump truck sure did have a mind of it's own. It would start only when
it wanted to and would die at random times. Dale is trying to jump it in the backyard.

We needed to get everything ready to go by the next morning because Dale's brother and dad would be coming to help set rocks. We wanted to get a good portion of it done while Darren was up because he is the PRO LANDSCAPER, ( that is what he does for his job... and is very good at it) If we only knew what the morning would have brought. SNOW!!! That didn't seem to stop them though they worked right through it. ( That would be the burnett boys!) They were able to get all the rocks set and after it was all done, it stopped snowing. What are the chances. THANKS GUYS for working through it.

Getting the rocks set in the front corner of the yard

Look at that sown coming down!!! They sure are troopers!!!

Floyd driving the tracker into the backyard, getting ready to start on the back

Darren, letting Floyd know where to dump the dirt for the rocks & fire pit.

I cannot wait until we can use the fire pit and have a wiener roast and smores
( This picture is that afternoon after they have set the rocks...)

After we got all the rocks set it was time to do the sprinkler system. My dad was willing enough to come out to help us. At the first, I was really excited to spend some quality bonding time with my dad and I was very excited to dig out the trenches but by the end I hated shoveling. I never wanted to look at another shovel, but the time spent with my dad was great. We only had the evenings and Saturdays to work on it so, it took a little longer than we hoped but we got it done and got it done right. THANKS DAD!!!

Our beautiful yard all dug up.

When the sprinkler system was done, Dale and I were very disappointed in how the yard looked after we had covered the trenches. There was beautiful grass and then hills of dirt. So, we wanted to rip out the grass. I talked it over with my dad and he was like,"Absolutely not! If you were to hit one of those sprinkler heads we will have to start all over." He let us know that it would just take years for the grass to grow in where the dirt was but it would eventually be covered. We, at the Burnetts house, are very impatient people so we went against what my dad had said and rented a sod cutter and took out the grass ourselves. WHAT A JOB ... if only we had thought about the grass before we had started the whole project of the yard, and done that at the very beginning. Oh well, we can't turn back time!

The master sod cutter!

It was so hilarious to watch Dale run the machine, this heavy machine and my sweet Dale trying to run it and it jiggling him all over the place and at the same time trying to guide it where it needed to go. It was so funny, I don't think I have ever laughed so hard.

We just recently got trees and bushes. We were able to go down to J&J Nursey in Layton, and got some sweet deals. Always nice to get a deal especially when you are buying trees and bushes.

We used Floyd's truck and trailer to bring home the trees and bushes. I think next time we will just have J&J deliver. It was a very nerve racking experience. I don't think Dale or I said one word to each other on the way home because we were so nervous that they were going to fall off or we didn't tie them down right, but we made it home safe and sound.

Floyd and Dale planting the trees

Right now, with the yard we are trying to decide if we want to do a fence or sod. So, we are at a holding right now with the yard. Stay Tune!!