New Yard!! (Phase 1)

We got a new yard!! I have been wanted to do an overhaul our yard for years now and we were FINALLY able to get the north front and side yard finished!! It looks so great! We love it! We knew we needed a complete reset, but went back and forth on what to do -- rip out our failing grass and start over with new sod? Go with complete Zeriscaping? I had been taking pictures of yards that I liked that had desert landscaping and playing around with an AI program that gave landscaping ideas from an uploaded picture.  

We weren't really considering turf because I generally don't like the look and feel of it. But then we went to a home show at the Dixie Convention Center in September and a company called Total Turf Supply had the entire bottom of their large booth covered in a thick, soft, green turf. We felt it and walked on it and I thought, "I actually like this!" They were offering $8.00 a square foot for the turf and installation. We set up an time for the owner, Kris, to come to our house and give us a bid. Then we walked around and saw all of the other booths. There were several more who also had turf, but none of them matched the look and feel of that first one. Plus all of the others were quite a bit more expensive -- some were $12.00 a square foot for turf and installation. 

He came over and talked through ideas with us and took measurements and gave us a bid. I had already had a couple of other landscapers come over to give us ideas and bids as well. In the end we decided to go with Total Turf. It was expensive, but less than the other bids. Even though it was expensive, we were working hard and saving money and felt like we could manage it. We paid a down payment of half the amount in October and hoped they would get started right away, but it ended up being pushed out for months. They originally planned to come in November, but due to some poor weather, they were behind schedule. 

We were hoping to be finished by Thanksgiving, and then by Christmas. But I didn't worry too much about the delay. We weren't in a huge hurry and it gave us more time to work and earn money towards the yard. They finally made it over in February and knocked it out in a week. Our yard looks complete different! But now that part of the yard looks great, it makes the other part of our yard look terrible in comparison, ha ha! So hopefully we can move forward on phase two of the yard quickly! Click HERE for an album of pictures!! I will also include a few below! (Total price for this phase was $22,325.00)

A few weeks later with the tree blossoms! 

Sunday Lessons

Today was fast Sunday. Rick and I attended the ASL branch and were asked to be the interpreters for sacrament meeting. We then stayed after church in order to get our temple recommends renewed from the Stake. The Bonnys were in town and it was fun to visit with them. Betty Jones was also there and we hadn't seen her in a long time. We gave her a ride home after.

We came home and hurriedly finished dinner before the ASL sister missionaries arrived. We had marinated chicken and several salads. The missionaries did a fun activity with our family and then taught a little lesson and challenged us to look for God's miracles this week! Later that night we had our Come Follow Me lesson with the grandkids taught by Jenna. She did such an awesome job! 

She showed Evan and Eli the object lesson where you have a bunch of pepper in a bowl of water and then dip a finger with dishsoap into the bowl and watch the pepper scatter to the edges of the bowl. This shows how with the help of the holy ghost you can be "in the world, but not of the world." She talked about the things of the world compared to the greater gifts that Heavenly Father has in store for us.  

She told the boys that they could either have a treat now (a little marshmallow), or if they could wait a whole five minutes then they could have a big treat (no bake cookies). At first Eli (age 3) wanted the marshmallow, but Evan (age 4) knew better and said they would skip the marshmallow and wait for the "real" treat. 

We went outside and she had two pathways written in sidewalk chalk on the back patio. The said "Son of Man," and had a picture of an entryway to a path with bright colors, rainbows, and candy. The other path said, "Son of God," and had a picture of an entryway to a path with a few rocks. Then she asked Evan and Eli which path they would want to walk. Of course they chose the enticing colorful pictures. 

But then she had them look through a rolled up paper, that looked like a paper telescope to see what was at the end of each path. On the cement wall at the end of each pathway was a picture. The entryway with the picture of rocks had a picture of Jesus at the end. The other picture had someone who looked like he was in chains. The pathway with the colorful images had different steps such as parties, temptations, addictions and so forth. 

The pathway with the rocks had steps such as baptism, studying scriptures, going to church, and going to the temple. That pathway led to Jesus and the other pathway led to misery. She explained that it was easy to be enticed by the bright, colorful things of the world, but if we kept our eye on Jesus (as shown when looking through the paper telescope) then we would stay on the right path of making and keeping covenants. Then we went in at ate her yummy no-bake oatmeal cookies! Great lesson, Jenna!!