Kara and Preston!

 My little sister Kara is getting married in March! WHAT?! She flew out a week before Christmas with her fiance Preston to spend some time with us before my parents came. I had to meet this guy before she really made any final decisions... :)  Well, she already had the ring so it's pretty much a done deal no matter what I thought.  Good thing I approve!

 Austin and Rhino!

 This is usually how I roll at the zoo.  One kid on each hip so they can both see the animals.

 There's Preston!

 Mr. Blake

 Austin and Blake both love cats and they couldn't get enough of this Bobcat walking back and forth.  It was getting close to dinner time.

 Love this picture!!

 We also ventured off to the Stockyards.  Preston loves this kind of stuff so we get along well.  They both bought cowboy boots while they were here and Preston got a camo belt buckle. Super cool.

 The happy couple

 Here's Austin throwing down some dance moves on the manhole of Casey Tibbs.  This is who my dad is named after.

 Riding the horse. I even put a quarter in this time. We splurged!

 Kara and Preston even washed my car for me!!! How nice.  Preston really did squeeze water from the sponge all over Kara's head. haha.

 We went downtown to see Santa Clause...Our plan was to actually go up and sit on his lap but the line was too long and we were headed to a hockey game as well.  So we just took some pictures.

Hockey! Austin and Tyler give them a thumbs up!

Tyler Graduated!

 Tyler finished up school this past April...Officially graduated in August...and finally walked in Commencement the end of December! He's Made It!!!  We got a babysitter and headed to Chick-Fil-A for some lunch and then headed to TCU.  As Tyler got out of the car to finish up his drink he pushed the straw through the cup and diluted lemonade spilled down the front of his pants. It was hilarious...Tyler didn't think so.  Good thing he was wearing a gown!

 Just before it all started.  Tyler graduated with his Masters in Geology.

 Getting his Diploma!!!

He's done it!

 Our good friend Spencer surprised Tyler by picking the boys up from the babysitter and bringing them down to TCU to watch Tyler get his diploma.  It was great to have them there at the end rather than wrestling with them through the entire Commencement. Thanks Spencer!!! Tyler was surprised!

 Family Picture

 My BOYS

 Spencer and Tyler...and Austin rolling around in the background

 TCU redid their football stadium recently and now it is HUGE!

The boys getting some energy out.  It was a great graduation. It was quick and entertaining.  Tyler and I didn't walk after we graduated from BYU so it was fun to finally see what it's all about.  And we had to have pictures as proof he really did graduate.

Turnin' the Corner

 

The first four photos in this post are about 6 weeks old...I'm about as fast at blogging as I am at building this wall.

This is the final height of the wall across the back of the property.

 

The curve...this was by far the most difficult part of the wall. I had to dig down and stair-step the wall because the property elevation drops as you move away from the back fence.

Getting each terrace to be level and at the right height compared to the blocks above and below it took 3 or 4 hours. That doesn't count the time I spent repairing the sprinkler line that I busted while digging out the foundation.

This is where my original plan changed the most. Instead of curving the retaining wall back into the fence before reaching that small tree, I decided to bring the wall all the way to the drive way. I borrowed a large roto-tiller from my neighbor Jackie, and this made the process much faster!

Yesterday Austin and I spent 4-5 hours working on the wall. He helped remind me that we needed to take breaks to swing, play baseball, and eat snacks. The wall will be low along this side, more of an aesthetic barrier than a retainer.

 

What a team!