I have been waiting all winter long to get outside and enjoy our big backyard. We have just under an acre of fairly well manicured grass along with some trees, vegetation and a fire pit. The previous owner was a big believer in rocks both big and small and while we love the trees and rocks (in most cases) we were certainly not completely satisfied with the layout. 
Before picture.
Andy got a new (to us) little riding lawnmower to keep our grass nice and trim. We got a new play set for the children that is not quite so elaborate as our previous one from California, but it does the job and keeps them moderately entertained.
The fire pit was probably one of our bigger disappointments. The previous owners (according to the neighbor lady) used to have giant pit BBQ’s and roast about 15 to 25 chickens at a time over this massive rectangular fire pit. I think that instead of cleaning the ash out after he was done he would just throw dirt on it and call it a day. First, the pit was just too big for us. Second, there was a ton of dirt and debris that was piled up underneath a big pile of dead branches that had not yet been burned. Finally, after we burned away the branches we found that when we tried to clean out the ash and debris that there was also a layer of river rocks underneath. 
Alex was a little more reserved with the fire and preferred to watch from a distance.
Finally, after we burned everything down and let it cool off, Andy started moving the rocks, and by rocks I mean boulders, to create a somewhat smaller and rounder fire pit that we could enjoy.
It was no easy task moving even one of those rocks, much less around 20 of them. It was definitely a labor of love because I would have given up on rock number one. Lucky for me when he decided to start this little project, I was at work. I only came home on the tail end of it.
Although it seems like once you put a rock in place you move on, that is not quite the way my husband operates. He would place a rock then move it because he didn’t like the way it looked. he would try to put rocks together that fit kind of like a puzzle.
I must say, though, in the end it was all worth it, because it came out looking fantastic! if you look closely you can just make out how truly dirty my husband really is.
It took another few days of sifting through the dirt to get all the nails and metal and rocks out enough to be able to actually use the fire pit. With permit in hand we inaugurated the fire pit about a week after we finished with it by gathering up all the fallen branches from the trees after the last couple of days of thunderstorms and burning them.
The trees we have in the yard are great. We were lucky that this house has so many; however, there is something to be said for privacy and the back part of our yard id lacking just that. Lucky for us we have a horticulturist in the family (thank you Mark) and also a few extra helping hands (thank you Ann and Bob) who were more than willing to come to our aid in planting a few (4) evergreens that will eventually give us privacy from our neighbors as well as provide a beautiful view year round.
Sure they seem small now, but give them a few years and you won’t even know there is a house behind us.
We also felt that the side yard could use a little sprucing up so decided to plant some lilac bushes that would separate our yard from the neighbors to the west. They do die in the winter time, but then again, I will probably not be hanging outside on the back porch trying to enjoy the view in the winter time. 
All I can say is great job honey. You are amazing no matter what you do.
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