The Swamp

Unfortunately I do not have a photo that shows what the swamp in our front yard looked like before project began- but I think "swamp" conjurs up a good enough image.
We had a leak in our irrigation system that was causing a lot water to pool in our front yard. The moisture and the humidity caused a swamp to form. Joe and friends had to dig up the the swampy parts of the yard to locate the damaged pipe. We discovered that tree roots had literally grown around a pipe and cracked it. The only way to remove the roots was to also remove the pipe, so we replaced it.
You can tell by the photos that it was a very messy situation. But grass has almost completely been regrown over it, (see bottom picture) so we have finally bid adieu to our swamp. Many thanks to Pete who was stellar on this project, and of course Jake who has someone managed to get roped into all of our home improvement projects. Now I know that neighbors are good for more than just sugar!

After: The swamp was right underneath the tree-- you can reference the location by looking at where the tree is in other pictures.

And again, Lilly and Max were there to supervise.

The Weekend Warriors

Joe and friends have tackled a few weekend projects since we moved in. I'm updating them out of order, as the patio project was done the most recently. We attempted to seed our lawn w/ winter grass. Given what the yard looked like before, we actually did a pretty good job. But, there are still patches all around that have no grass, just soil. Since Arizona has clay soil, the dogs track in a lot of dust/dirt. So, Joe decided to place concrete pavers to extend our patio to cover the dusty portions and to expand the patio. I think it turned out very well, and thanks to Jake who was of great help through this project. You'll see photos of both him and Joe in all of our renovations. Also, thanks to Max and Lily who supervised!