during....

they say that 'it takes a village to raise a child', well try putting in a patio, now THAT takes a village!!! geez. we knew it would take days/weeks to complete but we knew that we'd be at it for MONTHS if we didn't have an amazing work crew. my brother, Brady put in many long hours, my dad(read below!), my nephews, my boys' friends even pitched in. (thanks kaid and cam!) and i can't forget my dear, dear husband!!! thank you all!!

22 pallets of pavers....

before....

sand pile discovered.....

now that the sand is delivered for the patio and new sandbox, the little boys lost NO time in discovering how dirty they could get in just a matter of minutes. you should have seen the bottom of our tub when they got done. oh, but so worth all the cleaning with the joyous sounds of laughter!

who's children are these anyways??

dear 'old' dad...

my dad is a 'die hard'. during the biggest rain storm in months, he's out putting together the boy's sandbox! since van boven gravel was going to be delivering 2 truck loads of sand later in the afternoon, he was on a mission. out there in his always-snazzy-giddy-up. :) i tell you, this man is amazing. almost every hour that we've spent on this patio, he has been out there too! if you know him, this doesn't surprise you. he never complains. never has to be asked to do something, he just sees what needs to be done and does it. yup, that's my dad. thank you dad!! we appreciate you so much. love you dear daddy.