This weekend hasn’t rambled at all.

In fact, not an ounce of my life has been slow lately.  Or quiet.  Our house has been a cacophony of hammers and drills and walls coming down and decks going up and progress.  It’s all very exciting and all very exhausting.

I’m so grateful for the wide range of talents my friends have.  And for their incredible generosity in sharing those talents with me and my family.

Early on, my friend Hannah said she’d love to help me rebuild our deck when we moved in.  I knew it would need repair before long and I really wanted a larger deck if possible.  She gathered a few of her friends, a couple of them complete strangers to me, who gave up their time to work on my deck – how nice are people, right?  And a few of my friends joined in and the kids did some work and their friends helped some too.  It was certainly a team effort, spearheaded and organized and planned and executed by Hannah.

Last week the kids and I tore down the old deck.  (In doing so I learned a few things.  One – we can do hard things.  Two – destruction is a lot easier with the right tools.  Three – we  don’t own any of the right tools.  Four – I think for Christmas I’ll buy things like sledge hammers and rakes and leaf blowers as gifts for my kids.)

In the end, we doubled the deck’s size and although we still have a few details to add in – some rails and some steps and maybe some way to hang our hammocks – the basic job is complete.  

And it is SO thrilling.  I can’t wait to have dinner on the deck and breakfast on the deck and a party on the deck.

Goodness, I’m so incredibly thankful for friends who give of their time so sacrificially and kindly.  

And now the photos can tell the rest of the story.

The original deck.

 

 

I forgot to take photos of us ripping it apart.

And then to the helpers arriving and working.

 

 

 

All of the kids worked well – but that Mosely – she really pulled her weight, and more.

 

 

 

Piper loved learning how to drill.

 

 

 

Hannah had some really fun power tools.  (And yeah, I should have chosen my shoes more wisely.)

 

 

Almost done.

 

 

And …. finished.

 

 

We pulled a few chairs up and set down as the sun set.

 

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