Gilstraps in Denver

Julie and Stewart made an appearance in the Mile High city in June! I was away on work travel, but Chris got to have several evenings together, and when I got back we enjoyed dinner and a grand finale dessert at Little Man! 

Colorado Springs

I was working at a conference in Colorado Springs for 4 days, so Chris came along and worked from the hotel room. It was nice to have Chris along for work travel, and we were able to spend some quality time with Chad and Michelle while on their turf! We celebrated Michelle's birthday with delicious sushi, and were able to take a few minutes to be still during our busy busy lives. For those of you that don't already know this, Chris LOVES pillows. Like a little boy, building a fort degree of pillow love. This photo is a great illustration:

Also, meanwhile in Colorado Springs, a horrible wildfire started. Our conference was mandatorily evacuated from the venue, and we were glued to our television watching for updates about the fire. It was very scary, and a lot of Colorado Springs residents lost their home to the fire, but fortunately there were very few injuries and deaths. The fire lasted for several days and crews were brought in from all over the country to fight it. The weather has been so bizarre this summer, and the fire was a result of the hot weather and what they believe may have been an arsonist that started it.

Side Patio = Complete!

Dad, Chris and Chad got to work on the Pergola this weekend and knocked it out in less than a day. My favorite is the first one, with dad as the general contractor, overseeing the project :)

Dad putting the final craftsman style touches on the pergola.

VERY happy with how our side patio turned out. We ran vine-training wire between the posts to train the grapevines to grow up the pergola. My parents made the blue bottles candle holders out of old wine bottles, with the bottom cut off and a coiled metal wire on the inside to hold a candle.

We're loving our new view from our backdoor. Much better than an overgrown mess!

This was a garage sale find - I'm going to use wire and hang glass jars with candles in them from the metal pot rack, making a fun outdoor chandelier. Repurpose, recycle!

Finished patio. The bench and teak chairs were garage sale finds, and we bought the table from World Market at 60% off, what deals! You'll also notice a fabulous new backdoor, much needed!

BEFORE/AFTER

The planters in the background are 3-sided, with the side next to the house open. The large planter hides access to the crawl space under the new addition, and the smaller planter in the distance hides the copper piping connecting our new front yard irrigation system. Both are 100% moveable.

We're enjoying our patio already, and looking forward to sharing it with visitors this summer!

Project Chifferrobe

While the boys were working on the pergola, my project was sanding and painting a new piece of furniture for our guest bedroom - an antique chifferrobe. It really is a neat piece, and I'm happy with out it turned out! Since we don't have a closet in the spare bedroom, I wanted something that could function as hanging space for visitors, as well as drawers for extra storage. This seems to be the perfect combination.

BEFORE

AFTER

The House: Before and After

A few before and after shots...

Remember this cute little guy?

I don't have a green thumb.

Last summer we planted, and of the 15 things we planted, we only managed to have 2 survive. Our goal this year is to keep things alive. I've come to the realization that I just don't have a green thumb, and probably never will. We planted hearty flowers that the woman at the nursery said will be good for our areas, that are in 100% direct sunlight all day! They aren't the prettiest flowers, but hopefully they will at least stay alive!

These planters are for herbs, probably.

Peppers for Chris, tomatoes for me.

A Special Wedding

I spent last weekend in Little Rock, Arkansas for a very special wedding! One of my Young Life girls was getting married! I feel so old thinking about how I first met these women their freshman year of high school, when they were at Kickapoo and I was at Drury. Our friendship grew over the 4 years in Springfield, and I graduated and moved to Denver, and they too graduated and moved out of state for college. 

Now, 4 years later, I had the incredible opportunity to see them again, and at such a joyful time, to celebrate the unity of marriage! The bridesmaids and groomsmen were fellow Young Life leaders whom she led alongside after she left Springfield and met in college. I've had many moments over the last 8 years, wondering what God was doing with me in their lives, wondering if all the hours in prayer and quality time spent together was with the purpose of something greater. It was so neat last weekend to see a little glimpse of the legacy God has used me for, and now used my young life girls for. And, I felt like I got a little glimpse at what it must be like to be a mom, to beam with joy and pride to see someone you love so much grow up before your eyes. So happy, so full of joy, and so excited for my friends! In my heart, they will always be my Young Life girls, but now, I'm honored to call them my friends.

 

Rockies Game

Our first Rockie's baseball game this summer - complete with ballpark hot dog. We went to the game with Chris' United Way Emerging Leader's Council - had a great time! It officially feels like summer when you're at the ballpark!

Shells and Sauce

New FAVORITE Denver restaurant - attention all friends coming to visit us in Denver this summer, we WILL take you here and you will LOVE it! Our new found italian fave is "Shells and Sauce" - a great little spot in Congress Park neighborhood. It just doesn't get much better than warm bread, al dente pasta, thin crust pizza, balsamic vinegar, parm cheese, fresh tomatoes, and italian spices! YUM YUM YUM.

The Black Hills

To get to South Dakota from Denver, you point your car north and just keep on going. At one point we hung a right, and 30 minutes later we arrived at our destination in South Dakota. That simple! It's only about a 5 hour drive, who knew!? Best kept Denver secret!

In South Dakota, we met up with my family for my cousin Marty's wedding at Spearfish Canyon Lodge. The lodge and the wedding were absolutely beautiful, and the setting reminded us a lot of Colorado.

After Spearfish, we headed to Mt. Rushmore.

Mom, dad, Mollie, Christine, Charles, Aubri and Alayna camped in Custer State Park and we opted for a hotel room in the town of Custer. This was Big Red and the 5th wheel camper's inaugural trip. 

Near Custer State Park was this beautiful lake. We're already plotting a weekend trip back to stay near the lake. It was absolutely beautiful.

We spent a lot of time animal watching in Custer State Park - the buffalo were incredible! It is just after birthing season so the moms and calves were out together. Lots of cute little baby buffaloes, with packs of proud mamas. The bulls were nowhere to be found, haha! I liked this shot of Mollie in her element, photographing our trip along the way. Overall, we had such a great trip with our family and really enjoyed seeing South Dakota. I can't say that South Dakota or Colorado are more beautiful, they are just different :)

Ahhhh Summertime

Thus far, my summer has been filled with work travel. A couple of neat highlights featured below - Las Vegas Venetian gondola rides indoors (we didn't ride, just thought this was neat):

And, a quick lunch poolside in Reno, Nevada (BEAUTIFUL!):

Now that I've been back in town, our summer has been filled with (DELICIOUS):

BBQ

And Farmer's Market goodies

The Side Yard - Soon to be Vineyard Patio

Now that the front yard has grass, we quickly moved on to finishing the side yard so that we can enjoy barbeques and evening fire pit relaxing all summer long. The area has been a grubby, overgrown space since we built the addition on the house, and Chris built a gate at the front of the house so it would be out of eye sight from the street. The fence we share with our neighbors is overflowing with red and green grape vines, making the area our little vineyard in the privacy of our own.

Our concrete guy Priscilliano Anaya was so great to work with on doing our city side walk, did such a great job, and has such a fabulous name, that we hired him to pave our side yard. We're very happy with how it turned out - stay tuned for the June construction of the pergola and large flower pot plantings!

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Grass, Finally

In the words of our mail lady, "You FINALLY landscaped your yard!" We started with dirt, overgrown weeds, severed and buried irrigation system, a huge stump with deep roots, and more dirt. We now have grass, and there will be more DIY landscaping to come in June! We're so pleased with how well it turned out, and had a great experience working with Jon Swenson from Renew 303 Landscaping. He gave us a great deal, and even better customer service. And, to boot, he must have some kind of connection with the rain Gods because we had several days of rain after the sod was laid. Perfection!

BEFORE (Weed landscaping)

(Stump that had to be removed)

DURING

AFTER