Before we built our house our lot was a rock field, but it was a low spot in the neighborhood so more rock was brought in to build it up. So the first couple of years we spent removing all the large rock off the top of our yard so it wasn't so hard, and uneven. Then we had to figure out what to do with the back property line where there was a 6 foot difference. The city should have taken care of it with a retaining wall but they refuse so it was left to us. After saving for a couple of years we decided to do a railroad tie retaining wall.

Brigham's brothers agreed to help out one morning to get the wall built. first they had to move all the ties out of the way, I think they were tired already...there was over 100.
We got a backhoe to help with some of the work. We dug out the little hill to make a two tiered wall for half of it the other half would be straight up.

Here is the beginning of the wall. It was very time consuming to line it up, drill the holes (with a weak drill) and then hammer rebar through it for support.


Half way through starting to fill in behind the wall...this will haunt us later.

Here is the tiered side of the wall...it has been a long day for these boys, in the middle of hot July besides all the labor.

From sunrise to sunset, but not done yet...Still not bad for one days work.

Here is the wall once it was finished.

The tall part (behind the trailer) started to lean a little after filling in behind it the force of the load from the backhoe and all the rock was just too much...over the next couple of months it continued to lean more and more and by Spring we knew we had to fix it :(

Here is the wall after we started taking it down...it was almost as hard to take down as it was to put up...prying the ties apart then hammering the rebar back out, it was a pain...poor Brigham did it mostly himself.

You can see the leaning here but it wasn't half as bad as the tall part.

This time we put support ties in front of the wall to keep it in place, cemented into the ground. After we finished building the wall...again...we had to dig out behind it about a foot wide and 3 feet deep so we could put a barrier behind it so the chemicals wouldn't seep into the garden...then we had to fill it back in. But finally the wall was done we could start working on the back yard.

Back Yard to date

Once we got the wall done we could finally start on the backyard...Our yard is so bad we couldn't use a trencher to dig the sprinkler lines...they even have a special trencher for rocky yards but ours was still too bad so we had to rent a mini-ex...it still had a hard time getting through some parts.

We cleared off the top layer before digging the trenches so we didn't have huge rocks, this is what it looked like after digging the trenches....we just don't have dirt it's large rock mixed with gravel, well maybe a little bit of clay too.

Next step was to go by each square and take these piles and rake them into flat spots...I'd say seperate the dirt and rock but seriously there is no dirt so we got all the big rocks out and added them to the rock pile...it was a pain, especially in the heat of the summer. You can't tell but the piles are over 2 feet...a lot of raking.

I forgot to take pictures of the squares after rock removal but this is when we were almost done, one little pile in the back.

This is where we are now...this is the side of the house. We have decided to do this area gravel so we aren't being as picky about the rock removal but there are still a lot of large rocks and leveling to do.

Right along the house we built some planter boxes for our berries, we will have raspberries, strawberries, boysenberries, blackberries, (we want to try blueberries but heard they don't work,) and grapes. May try other berries along the way.

We are almost ready! We are just leveling the backyard...these are the rocks that come up as we do that...we're not digging for them but we are still getting piles of them :S

Backyard Adventures

The boys have had a blast with the backyard...they got a huge dirt pile to play in, a rock pile to climb on, a wall to hike across! This is them throwing dirt at each other and themselves...Gabe puts his fists over his eyes then releases the dirt it flies everywhere but doesn't get in his eyes as much...pretty clever.

King of the mountain!

Sliding down

I will copy you, but do it better :)

They were also jumping off the pile, they got some pretty good air and distance...Gabe would jump so high he'd fall over and land on his head sometimes but got back up and did it again...quite entertaining for us all.

This is Zeke watching out the window when he couldn't come out...Daddy was working with the backhoe.

Hiking across the wall, who knows what adventure they were on this time....I love their creativity.

Look at me I'm driving!

Zeke loves to help...he got on and helped Daddy use the tractor, then of course Gabe wanted to.

I love his face in this picture the concentration and expression like he's really driving and digging. I wonder if the boys will like the backyard as much when they are old enough to have to help with the work :) They do help now though they will pick up rocks and throw them in the wheelbarrow or rock pile...sometimes good rocks, sometimes gravel sized :)

Boys in June

We fed the ducks at flowserve a little while ago and the boys absolutely loved it and keep asking to go again. We decided to feed the ducks at Salem Pond...unfortunately the goose was mean and the boys didn't enjoy it.

They were hiding behind the fence from the goose but they still weren't having fun, and there were a lot of bugs....we tried Canyon View park about a month later and they don't even have ducks anymore...well 2 but they were very spoiled.

The outing wasn't a complete failure though, they loved the playground...all the slides were just right for them.

Zeke had just watched a Thomas movie that had a bridge on it so he was super excited, played on this most of the time and we went across the big bridge.

Gabe is such a copycat...wants to do whatever Zeke does...sometimes he copies the exact steps Zeke takes and everything.

my little monkeys

The boys were going to get the towels out of the dryer when Brig went back in Gabe was laying in the warm dryer with his hands behind his head, nice and relaxed.

Here is Zeke pretending to be baby Malachi all squished in my tummy. He goes back and forth from wanting to keep getting bigger, and wanting to be a tiny baby again.

The boys play so well and are such good buddies....when they are not enemies who continually pick on each other :)

Father and Sons Campout

The boys were so excited to go camping with Daddy. They came home and were anxious to tell me about how they got to sleep in a tent and a sleeping bag, it was so fun.

With the weather this year they had to change locations because the original site was still snowed in, so it was still cold...even in the middle of June.

Zeke says he is getting his friends. He loves playing trains, and cranky (anything that lifts something else) and swords and guns.

What a ham!

Boys in May

Zeke wore himself out playing with cousins...This was after roasting hotdogs in the firepit.

Zeke loves to see himself in the mirror now if I ever say he has something on his face or toe or anything he wants to go look in the mirror. Here he said he was Santa.


Zeke had his phase of dumping out cereal, of course he found an open box and tipped it over...Gabe finds a new box, rips it apart and throws it around....his nicknames are Tazmanian Devil and Mr. Destructo. This is the beginning of an ongoing phase of destroying food.

Boys in April

Gabe's favorite toy is a little ride on tractor that goes outside....he likes to ride on all sorts of trucks and 4 wheelers...even one for a toy spiderman that is about 2 inches high...good thing he's tiny.

It keeps flipping my pictures and it's a little frustrating.

The boys love watching Thunder and lightning storms...This one had quite the rainfall with it.

You just can't help but think it's cute when they climb in the dryer...They were helping me pull the clothes into the dryer but found something funner to do instead.

Hey why not bring the trains in too, it will be a party!

They are so darn handsome! Zeke was excited to get a suit with a green shirt, he picked it out and reminds me all the time green is always my favorite.

Brought a smile to your face too, didn't it?

Zeke by himself

Of course Gabe needed one by himself too.

Gabe doesn't always like naptime so here he emptied the dresser then fell asleep on the clothes...when I first walked in I didn't see him, when I found him his leg was propped up on the door and his arms were behind his head, it was super cute.

This is what happened when he refused to take a nap because he wasn't tired.

The boys love to snuggle, and they love to tackle daddy, this is a mix between the two.

Ha ha, we weren't really asleep.

wait, I want to be in the picture too...Gabe's idea of snuggling is climbing and rolling all over everyone.