Holiday Weekend = Ice Cream, Deck and Rocks

We had a great holiday weekend with mom and dad, and we were even able to squeeze in some delicious Little Man Ice Cream! My personal favorite - Salted Oreo.... yum!

The deck is now 99% finished - dad is going to do some trim pieces around it tomorrow. It is absolutely BE-AU-TI-FUL! This is a view of it from the front of the house. 

 

And this is a view of the side of the house.

Rewind a few days and this is all the rock that mom (mainly), Chris and I shoveled from the front yard. When the front loader dug the hole for the foundation, we realized that our house is built right on top of the old Platte River bed so all those beautiful, smooth, round rocks you're seeing are from the river that once ran right where our house is today. Needless to say, those beautiful rocks quickly became a pain in the rear, since they covered our yard after being dug out of the ground. The entire front yard had to be shoveled into a wire mesh netting, sifted to separate from dirt, and then wheelbarrowed and dumped under the deck - for safe keeping :) Mom did most of this - and to her we are forever thankful! Below the entire deck is about 6 - 12" of rocks - whewwww! Thats a lot of rock.

I've never been so happy in my life....

... to get new windows! Aren't they adorable? They crank open so you can still have fresh air on a rainy day, and, they add an extra artistic flare to the wall decor!

This photo is for Carrie - our front door will be on the right/north side of the new addition. You'll only see the front of the house and the deck from the street, then you can walk up on the deck and turn into the front door. You can see through the new door opening, the old door still on the old part of the house, which was on the front of the house.

The Gilstrap Vineyard

Good news - our neighbors have grape vines! We're legitimately considering crafting our own wine and bottling our own vintage.... and we could be a winery, with a tasting room, right here in the middle of Platte Park neighborhood! Not sure yet what kind of grapes we have - so we'll let you know when we announce our new label! 

(For those of you who know us well - I'm only partially kidding here....)

The trashbags you see are what's proof of mom and I's work all day Monday - full of tree limbs, dead grape vines, shingles, wood and.... whats left of our irrigation and sprinkler system after it saw its last days because of the front loader.

Who needs a big living room when you have a huge deck?

Friday's project was to build a wrap-around deck on the north and east ends of the house. Chris and dad are renting a digger today to dig holes for the posts and then they'll also set the concrete and posts this afternoon.

View of the front.

Mom has been out visiting this week and she has been working on the front "lawn." I'm not sure what happened to our front lawn in the process of building the addition, but it went from beautifully landscaped to being a dirt field, full of rocks! It may have had something to do with the front loader digging an 8' deep hole, and 3 concrete trucks parking in our front lawn. Mom has been raking and sifting the dirt, and it looks 100 times better! We'll bring in loads of top soil and sod this fall, and hopefully by this time next year, we'll have a front lawn again!

Movin' on Up!

The addition is looking better every day! The first 4 feet up is stucco, the next 4 or so feet will be lap siding, and then the rest will be a special craftsman design..... details to come.... All will need a fresh coat of paint in the near future. The bottom is prepped to build a wrap-around deck on the north and west sides of the addition - which is on the agenda for tomorrow! The little window is now in it's place - in the bedroom closet. We're patiently waiting on the custom windows to come in so they can be placed and dad can continue with the siding on up. And also - how do you like the addition of our new flag?!

Drop down ladder to our new storage space in the attic. Dad bought the "super deluxe" version - or at least thats what he keeps telling us!

Attic of the new addition - perfect for storage, or a camping experience for the nieces when they come to visit.

View from the ground - up top enjoying the view.

The tub and shower are in their places - dad and Chris are going to begin working on taking the window out/filling the space in and running the new plumbing into the bathroom from the existing  house. The large opening to the left is for placement of a pocket sliding door into the bathroom from the bedroom, which is where I am standing taking the picture.

View of part of the bedroom, from standing in the bathroom. Notice this is where dad is storing his bike for the time being. We're waiting on those little windows to come in so they can be framed in!

Cutest Kids on Earth

Aubri in Pool - Episode 1 from Sarah Gilstrap on Vimeo.
">Aubri in Pool - Episode 1 from Sarah Gilstrap on Vimeo.

Aubri in Pool - Episode 2 from Sarah Gilstrap on Vimeo.
">Aubri in Pool - Episode 2 from Sarah Gilstrap on Vimeo.

Aubri at Pool - Episode 3 from Sarah Gilstrap on Vimeo.
">Aubri at Pool - Episode 3 from Sarah Gilstrap on Vimeo.

Aunt Sarah: "Alayna, what does the water say?"
Alayna: "Water hi Lena, water hi Lena"



Ocean Say "Hi" to Alayna from Sarah Gilstrap on Vimeo.
">Ocean Say "Hi" to Alayna from Sarah Gilstrap on Vimeo.



Alayna at the Beach from Sarah Gilstrap on Vimeo.
">Alayna at the Beach from Sarah Gilstrap on Vimeo.

Gulf Shores

We took an all girls trip to Gulf Shores. It was Christine, Mom, Mollie, Alayna, Aubri and I - so perfect. We had a wonderful time and swam in the ocean everyday. The media is making the oil out to be much worse than it actually was during the time we were there, though I completely understand the severity and greatness of this issue at hand. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed ourselves, it was simply perfect!

Window and Bathtub

Here is the progress that was made while Sarah was in Gulf Shores with mom, Christine, Mollie, Aubri and Alayna. Dad and Chris had 3 days of rain, but worked diligently once they had sunny skies. 

The roof is on and trimmed out, and dad has enjoyed his "mountain view" from the rooftop.

We found a clearance window for the front of the house and it was exactly what we were looking for, isn't it just perfect?

View from the master bedroom out the new window!

Dad woke up yesterday like a hotdog, sandwiched between both sides of his air mattress. He sprung a leak in the middle of the night. Chris got a kick out of his patching technique - you'll notice an industrial size clamp on the hole.

We found a great jetted Jacuzzi tub for the new bathroom and dad and I went to pick it up in the middle of nowhere at a mountain house. He created quite the spider web of bungee cords to haul it home.

The Hall of Frame

These pictures are from Dad, taken for Uncle Paul. The bobcat is filling in the moat that was around the foundation, the truck is a "hot rod truck" that dad want's everyone to see. He said the bobcat driver said he didn't like working with this truck because "it was too pretty."

Sarah's closet.View from what will be the new front entryway, looking toward hallway coat closet, then turning right into the bedroom.400 square feet of glorious space. The moat around the new addition was filled in today. Dad said if we wanted to keep the moat we could always fill it with water and alligators.

Growing....

Pouring the concrete into the molds for the foundation walls.Apparently while watching the concrete dry, dad fell asleep. He had a big day of watching the contractors pour the concrete.
Concrete work is finished, footings and foundation walls complete. Insulation glued to inside of walls, check. Chris also had to paint the outside of the foundation walls with black waterproofing paint. This was the last day that we were able to drive up into the yard. One of our neighbors turned us in for cracking the sidewalk, so the city came out to scold us, and we're no longer allowed to drive up into our own yard. And just to clarify, we didn't break the sidewalk, the excavators that brought in the HUGE front loader to dig the hole, are the ones that broke it! And yes, we are planning to fix it.Chris and dad, at about 9 pm, admiring their work for the day.Our friends Chris Goodson and Branton Thompson came over to help Chris and Dad build this week. Monday resulted in joists for the flooring. Tuesday....we have a super insultated floor, and one wall! Things are beginning to be removed from the existing house, notice the missing gutter, and one side of the door trim. We've decided to leave the remnants of the sprinkler system, for added aesthetic appeal (see bottom right corner PVC popping out of the ground).

Chalk Art Festival

We went to the Denver Chalk Art Festival on Larimer Street over the weekend. The art was absolutely incredible. This artist was drawing herself, drawing herself.This piece was created in a circle around a tall metallic cylinder. When you look into the cylinder, the piece looked normal, when you looked on the ground, the image was curved and abstract. The piece was inspired by Salvador Dali artwork, with melting clocks and such. It was really incredible.


This photo is for you Mollie, Dad wanted me to take it for you!

Watch it grow.

Footings minus concrete.

Add that concrete.

Pray concrete truck does not fall into hole.