Since, I have attended numerous Timbers matches and have this guy below to thank for it. He's gotten me so hooked I even suggested buying $70 tickets and driving all the way to Seattle for the first ever MLS matchup between PTFC and the Sounders.
Timbers fans are crazy. The Timbers Army spans multiple sections behind the north goal. They sing, chant, wave flags, dance, and set off smoke bombs the entire game. Every fan leaves the game with various chant running through the brain, such as "Portland Timbers, we adore you, Portland Timber to you I SING" followed by dancing and people singing the Tetris song. The picture below is post game after the Timbers beat their rivals Vancouver (BC) Whitecaps.
Jeld-wen field is awesome. It's been around since the 1940s and holds a lot of noise. It's a bowl in the middle of downtown Portland. It's had 13 consecutive sell outs and has become one of the "things to do" since becoming an MLS team this year.
Hudson had been BEGGING us to take him to a game. When we had the chance, by winning 3 tickets through Intel, we took him this last Saturday. He loved it and learned a little about Soccer. I had a good opportunity for 1:1 coaching. After the game, I asked him what he had learned from the game..."I learned that you need to spread out." Music to a Under-8 (yrs old) coach's ears.
Our backyard looked like this. Trees, scrubs, moss, rose bushes, and more trees covered every inch of the back and front yards. The backyard was unusable 10 months of the year due to the 3 inches of mud that you'd sink into while using it/or mowing it, for that matter.
So projects began a few months after we purchased the home in March 2010. Slowly Operation swamp and jungle removal began. We first started easy, ripping out scrubs, cutting down multiple trees, adding a planter/garden wall in front, and leveling out the front yard a little.
Then began the work in the back yard. You can't see it too while, but part of the 5 truck loads of debris/yard waste we carried out of the front and backyards is piled by the side of our shed.
This summer, I had a vision: A way to use the backyard all year, not just during the warm/dry summer months of Oregon, which lasts a whopping 2, maybe 3 months (that's not a knock on Oregon. We love it here, but trying to be real with my facts here...it rains a lot). So the dream began with a large rented rototill from Home Depot.
Inspired by my neighbor Ezra, I ventured into the world of French drains, dug 5 trenches, bought a lot of round river rock, perferated tubing, and landscape clothe and laid a network of trenchs across my yard.
Then began the fun part of hauling multiple piles of soil mixtures to the backyard, one shovel, one wheelbarrow at a time. When it was all said and done, 25 yards of dirt, 5 yards of round river rock, 5 yards of dark hemlock bark chips, and 5 yards of cedar play chips landed in the front driveway and with the help of many kind souls/friends/neighbors, we transported it all to the back yard.
I forgot to mention my co-worker and hometeacher also pitched in by helping me unload 175+ 26 lbs blocks for the retaining wall that was constructed to help level out the yard.
This is a phot of the wall and garden (top left that is now filled with soil. The wall still needs a few blocks, but it's solid and we hope it will last for years to come.
The hemlock helped level the paths from front to back yards. The kids and Natalee helped pull up these stones so we could lay many feet of landscape fabric to keep the weeds out of our way. The stones were returned to their proper location and look very nice. We still have a couple of spots that need landscaping TLC, but they aren't visibile from our back window, so I'm unconcerned at this point...someday people!
More path photos. To the right of the border is where the grass was planted. See below.
Finally, you can see the garden filled, and the green grass growing! The backyard was a month long effort and we owe a lot of thanks to several people who pitched in a few hours here and there to keep me (Steve) sane. We'll post a picture once the plants are in and the grass is covering the dirt completely. At the end of the day, we're very excited to use our new back yard. It should provide sanity for Natalee when the kids are killing her inside, so can send them out to run around and have fun.