Thursday, May 27, 2010

Gimme Some More of That...

Today was another first for our family... Ella tried rice cereal for the first time. It appeared that she enjoyed it. You can judge for yourself! It is crazy how fast time has gone. She is already almost five months. We are SO in love with her.



Sunday, May 9, 2010

Paver Patio

Angie and I have been wanting a patio in back for some time, and this month we finally accomplished the goal! With the help of family, we now have a paver patio and fireplace to make our backyard experience great.

We've always had a brick grill in the back yard, but the grill portion was so rusted it was unusable. I don't have any true before pictures, but here are some pictures from early in the process through the completed project. We were able to find some flagstone that matches well with the stain we used on the bricks, and used that for the hearth and mantle.





After I had rebuilt the grill into a fireplace, we started on the patio. My dad Stan, brother Tyler, and uncle Paul Ritter were able to help me out, and I would not have been able to finish it without them. Digging out 6+ tons of dirt and replacing it with 6 tons of gravel and sand is a lot of work!





We have finished all the stone work, and just have to finish setting up the furniture and planters. I will be sure to get up a completed picture when everything is finished!