Furniture Delivery

Does this mean time is getting close to moving in since the furniture arrived?  Not really - but it was fun to see the new stuff come through the front door!!

Everything is just piled to one side since the inspectors don't want ANY furniture in the house before you get your certificate of occupancy - but no choice here as there's no other place to put it!!

The jackhammer went at full speed today to dig deeper on the trench - but it was slow going and hard work - really tough in places where there is ice!  The rented jackhammer broke down in the afternoon so I returned it and got another one - hopefully the guys can get it done by noon tomorrow.  Brad came down to help so him and Roy went at it hard - poor Brad was exhausted!!

And to top it off, we came home from Denver to no water in the old house - we think there's a small portion of the pump that is frozen but not sure as just no time to check it out dealing with the trench.  I forgot how convenient it is to turn on the faucet and have water come out...............luckily there is water at the new house so I've been filling lots of jugs and bringing them down to get by on.

I hope tomorrow looks a little brighter!!

A Day Off

Friday night we headed to Denver - it was time for a day off and after the bad news on the trench, we needed to regroup!!  Glenn had worked hard all day so I ended up driving to Denver in the dark, which for me is a real challenge as I don't see that well at night!

But we made it fine and went to Jaime's to spend the night - it was an early morning as we headed to Rayna's volleyball tournament.  It was great to see her play, even though the team didn't do that well!

 Rayna has changed a lot - looking very grown up!!

 She did a great job playing and is the setter for the team!

 After the games, Glenn and I headed over to Jessi's for the rest of the afternoon and evening!  It was fun to see the grand kids and little Gwyn is growing so fast!  Jessi served a great dinner and then we all enjoyed ice cream!  I even had my favorite kind, Chunky Monkey!

We were supposed to drive on home that night but after Glenn found out a football game was on, he decided to watch it and we ended up spending the night and heading out by 6:30am for home the next morning!  A short time there but work was calling....................

Good Eats

We had a lovely evening with friends John and Patti last week - John had got both of us Groupons for Joseph's Fine Dining in Colorado Springs.  It's a very nice restaurant and the food didn't disappoint!!

The 4 course dinner started with an appetizer - John and Glenn split the calamari and Patti and I had the jalapeno artichoke stuffed mushrooms - delicious!!

 For the main entree, Glenn had the New York Strip Steak - I chose a chicken breast stuffed with spinach and figs and covered with an orange glaze - it was delicious!!

I forgot to take a picture of dessert but it was THEE BEST!!!  Glenn had caramel cheesecake which he shared with me and I had blueberry lemon cake and I shared with him!!  We were all stuffed when we left and looking forward to our next time together.

Setbacks Are A Reality Too

Just when things were going well..................Glenn had his trench inspection on Friday morning and unfortunately, it didn't pass.  While he thought the trench was to be 18" deep, it was actually supposed to be 24" deep - any other time of year this wouldn't be a problem but in the midst of our coldest month of the year, it IS a problem!!

You can't rent a trencher this time of year so the only other option is to try a jackhammer and do it by hand - guess we'll find out tomorrow as I picked up the jackhammer today!!

So of course this will take extra time - guess I better get my patience hat back on!!

On the bright side, Glenn has worked hard on the lower level bathroom and is making progress!  I think grouting is next on the list!!

I actually washed a few windows today - the outsides are a whole lot dirtier than the inside but it was just too cold and windy to do that!  Maybe tomorrow!!

Keeping my fingers crossed that the extra digging on the trench goes well!!

House Update AKA MOVING WILL SOON BE A REALITY!!

That's right - we are FINALLY talking about the reality of actually moving into this new house in January!!  We're working hard - are tired each evening - and are READY to get this show on the road!  I won't give any specific dates as to when the move will be but let's just say, unless something really goes wrong, we will be moved in before our trip to Costa Rica on Feb. 6th!!

The stress of keeping our current house looking perfect at all times AND working on the new house is starting to get to both of us!!  No buyer in sight yet but we did have 3 showings the week of New Year's - go figure that!!  It's been horribly cold (we're talking 20 below every morning for over a week) and the driveway is snowy and icy and yet we had 3 different sets of people look at the house last week!!  Unfortunately, no offers yet.................

Today seemed like a real break through when I actually CLEANED the master bathroom and closet!!  The painting on the main floor is basically DONE so I've moved all the supplies to the lower level - it will be quite a while before that floor is done but we're concentrating on the main floor in order to get our certificate of occupancy!

We have carpet in the master bedroom!

 Tile in the master shower!

 Office is pretty well complete.

 And the master vanity and all the fixins' was set today!!  I LOVE it!!

Time will tell how soon we move in!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We must be getting old when the thought of babysitting grand kids on New Year's Eve sounded like the PERFECT thing to do!!

Jill's decided to come down over the New Year and wanted to see friends so I offered to babysit!!  They came in on Thursday and after a look at the new house, they headed to friends' and we ate pizza with the kids!

Papa is always playing a game with them while they eat!!  He tells them to eat different parts of his body and then pretends like he can't eat - Here both Parker and Aleah told him they were eating his hands so he decided to eat with his feet - pretty funny!!!

 We had a great evening together and were in bed by 10:15 - nope, didn't watch the ball drop OR stay up to see if we could see the fireworks over Pikes Peak - I KNEW we wouldn't see them as it was snowing lightly when we went to bed!!

It was 20 below on New Year's Day morning!!  The kids thought it was pretty cold in the house till we got it warmed up!!

 We did a variety of things on Friday and the kids loved doing the stickers to make ornaments!

Jill and Robby arrived back at our house around noon and that afternoon, Jill and I went into Woodland Park to see the movie, "Joy".  We both enjoyed it!!

It was a nice relaxing day and we watched a movie that evening after we got the kids to bed.  Jill's headed into town to see Robby's mom late Saturday morning and it was back to work for Glenn and I - got to keep plugging along on this new house!!

Dinner With Nedelle

Our grand daughter Nedelle from Iowa came with her mom to see relatives here in Colorado over Christmas - we picked them up on Monday night to take them out to dinner and give Nedelle her gifts.  Her birthday is Dec. 23rd so she gets double around Christmas time!!

Her favorite restaurant is Red Lobster so that's where we ended up!!  We had a great meal together and she enjoyed opening her cards.

Nedelle has really changed this last year - guess that's what happens when you turn 12!!  It was great to see her and her mom Leslie!!

The REAL Christmas Day

Although it didn't seem like Christmas on Dec. 25th, I decided to take the day off from working at the new house and just relax!  Glenn however did go work for a few hours!!

We spent the afternoon watching some TV and relaxing - I looked back at my scrap booking books and took pictures of past scrap booked Christmas's and texted them to the girls throughout the day - gosh have the kids changed!!!  And some of us adults too!!

It snowed MOST OF THE DAY so it was beautiful outside and fun to watch it snow!!  I always love a Christmas when it is snowing outside!!

We did attend a wonderful church service on Christmas Eve and then met friends Dick and Jane at one of our favorite restaurants, Mucky Duck!!

It was a nice evening spent together and we've decided to make it a yearly tradition if we're both free!  Merry Christmas!!