Patio

Back in October we had an apple tree in our yard cut down to make space for a new patio. There was a patio already there but it was not well done and not very big. Our neighborhood is part of what used to be a large orchard, so there are some fruit trees remaining here and there. However, the one in our yard was dying and starting to rot in the middle. After the winter we had (60+ inches of snow!!), I'm very glad we had the tree taken down when we did. The tree company was supposed to come back and grind the stump but had to wait until the ground was dry enough. Well that day finally came on June 26...

So we had two weeks before Isabelle's baptism to build the patio. We couldn't have done it without the help of Roger, my Dad Greg, Danny, Matt D. and Carlos. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Rather than write all about how we built the patio, I'll just post pictures of the process. We are really enjoying having a nice place to grill and eat meals outside. We had Isabelle outside with us in her bouncy seat under the pine tree (in the shade) on the days that it wasn't boiling out.

The old patio...

and the apple tree

This is how we spent the day on our 3 year anniversary - it was of course 100 + degrees. Isabelle was NOT outside with us those couple days of extreme heat.

All done!!