Before & After: Patio

A side project, literally.

Before

Keith has the best ideas for projects!

The latest was inspired by needing a proper place to put the grill.  When we walk out our back door the stairs lead us beside the patio, not to the patio.  So we have to walk down the stairs, around the railing, up the step, and on to the patio ... usually with a plate full of grilled items.

The project was to replace the side mulched area with paver stones.

During

This took more of a small army as opposed to a lovely husband-and-wife team.  Keith's student teacher was recruited to go to Lowe's with him to load up the 27 paver stones needed ...and then unload them back at our house.  My brother also helped with the unloading of stones at our house.  Those things were heavy!  Glad to have strong guys to help with the heavy lifting.

Then the call was made to enlist Keith's parents to help with the project.  Boy, were they a God-send!  They drove three hours with their dog in tow and they brought all kinds of shovels, tools, brooms, levels, an ax, a tamper, and 5-gallon buckets.  Didn't know we would need all that!  They also brought an awesome work ethic so the project would actually get done in one fair-weathered weekend.  We are so thankful for them.

And it looks beautiful.  

After