I have to admit, I’ve got pretty great parents.  Not only did they let us live in their house for 6 months while we searched for, purchased and renovated our new house, but then they insisted on giving us a housewarming present.  Gotta love’em!!

After all of the remodeling we had the inside of our house pretty well under control, but the landscaping was something that we couldn’t even begin to think about – and it seriously needed help.  While our front and backyard are still in dire need of some TLC, Mom and Dad contributed this gorgeous little guy to jump start our efforts:

Ok, maybe he wasn’t too cute when he was planted in November, but look at him now!

Just gorgeous, I tell ya.  We found a shady spot in the front yard for this Bloodgood Japanese Maple, watered him like crazy once a week, and now he’s as happy as can be.  Our yard looks so much better with the Japanese Maple’s splashy red leaves, and hopefully the rest of the yard will eventually look as good as he does!

Got any tried and true housewarming gifts that we should all give?  What’s your favorite housewarming gift that you’ve ever received?  Fill us in!