Patios, Pergolas, Papas

Four years ago, we decided a patio would be more suitable than the itty, bitty deck off the back of our house.  The deck was only a foot off the ground, and would create the most awkward situations for unsuspecting visitors who would get their chair too close to the edge and topple over backwards onto the grass!  The space underneath was also a great hiding place for ginormous spiders.  Definitely gotta go.  Wanting to save money of course, we did a little research and found it was cheaper to buy the patio bricks directly from Shell Rock, IA and have a semi deliver them to our house than it was to get them at our local Menards.  Someone HAD to be there when the semi arrived with a check in hand.  We got the call, they were arriving Wednesday at noon.  BE HOME.  At 2:00 that morning and pregnant with my first sweetheart, my water broke.  We left the check on the counter and drove like maniacs to the hospital.  My mother-in-law was there to hand over the check.  Then while we all oooooed and ahhhhhhed over the new baby, Dad and Tim set to work.  This year we decided a pergola would be just the perfect addition.  Kit's were more money than I had saved from picking up pop cans so Dad scratched his head again and made it!  A month later, with a third little sweetie for us to ooooo and ahhhhh over, Dad and my hubby finished it off with a wall.  Here are the before, during, and after pics.  Please come and sip a lemonade this summer with me!!!! :)

Let me just mention one money saving tip: the boards going across the top of the pergola are from the old deck.