2010 Kovacs Family Reunion: The House That Tony Built

My brothers have referred to my parents' house as "The House That Tony Built." I think it has something to do a mixture of Yankee Stadium being "The House That Ruth Built" and my brothers playing homerun derby in the backyard and my dad building alot of what is their house today...correct me if I'm wrong?

This year we decided our big project would be to help my dad finish the wall that surrounds the backyard. The wall was started years ago and only one side got done. The rest was still the old wooden fence that would blow down during any rainstorm and was thus held up in many places with wire and whatnot. So the theme of this year's reunion became "The House That Tony Built." After coming up with that idea, we came to the conclusion that not only did this "House" refer to the actual house and property but that we are all a part of the "House" that my dad (and mom!) built.


I designed the shirt after "The Home Depot" logo...


Here's the beginning of the wall...

Making progress...

My dad wouldn't let us work in our reunion shirts so on the day we wore our shirts, we took some work crew pictures...

The crew chief...

The civil engineer. If the wall isn't level, it's all this guy's fault...

Another civil engineer. I fired him, but quickly gave him back his job and I went back to using the "S" tool to make the mortar smooth...

My dad and sister, Amy, finished the rest of the wall after we all had to leave. Here's the *almost* finished product (still some decorative brick to put on top)...

I couldn't end this post without a tribute to my wonderful dad. My dad is the hardest worker I know. It may not have been a quality I enjoyed as a child always having to work in the garden or whatever it was that he had us do but now as an adult, I really appreciate that characteristic and hope that I can pass that on to my children as well. It was a privilege to work by his side. I love you, dad!