Merry Christmas...to me :)

As a Christmas present to me in 2010, Mark gave me a block of wood and cement.  Which meant, I was finally getting the deck I've been longing for.  His parents came over shortly after Christmas and his dad helped draw out plans for the deck. 

And now the time is here...it's being built.  Although we had parents who had wanted to help, their schedules got ahead of them, so Mark is doing a lot of the work on his own.  We're hoping to have Papa come and help with the finishing touches soon though!

So here's the progress...

Before (Yes, I actually remembered a before!)

 All children were removed from steps before building began.

Laying over in that heap of pillows is my new patio furniture (okay, it's new to me).  I was able to purchase it for under $100 from someone who was moving out of the country.  The table was a little rusty so that meant I got to get creative!  I'll share my finished project soon!

Back to the deck...
Here's what it looked like at the end of April:

Starting to frame it out.

And at the end of May:

He hasn't put the decking on...that's just the plank so we can get out into the backyard (can anyone guess what my boys will be playing tomorrow?).  But, the framing is done and the joists are in!
I still contend that I'm married to a Super Man!  He did all of this himself!  Please also keep in mind that he is working on this when he gets home from work and then on days off...which have been very few with all of our other activities and traveling going on....told ya...Super Man.

His goal before Papa comes is to get the decking down (and he's hoping to enlist a friend one afternoon so it goes quickly) and then have Papa help with the railings and steps (and I'm hoping they can work in a built in bench too).