Getting Resourceful (Sunday, July 3rd, 2016)

After a nice day of rest, we headed out this morning again to help our kids settle into their new home one last time.  Our youngest daughter and her boyfriend both came home for the occasion, so we left the house at about 8:15 to go pick him up, and then headed down the road.  We all enjoyed Santiagos burritos in the car for breakfast (except for our youngest daughter who got scrambled eggs with bacon and cheese since she has to eat gluten free).

And when we got there, the work began once again. 

Our oldest daughter and her husband will be hosting a small fourth of July party tomorrow, so we wanted to make some of their space a little more usable for them.  And since they don't have a back yard yet (it's basically a mud pit because of all the rain they've been getting), I thought that would be a nice place for us girls to start.

Here is a shot of the back yard and patio area after the move-in.

I brought a push broom, but didn't really consider how stuck the mud would be, and of course the kids really don't have any yard tools yet.  So we headed across the street to the construction zone to see what kinds of tools we could find for scraping.  We found two wooden landscape stakes, which the girls both used.

And a banister which had been discarded for some reason.  It was actually the best tool of all.  It worked great and didn't give me any splinters.

We also worked a little bit to smooth out the mud so we could put in some sort of stepping stones to get from the back patio to the stairs that lead up to the deck.  Of course, this was done with rudimentary tools as well, because we didn't have any proper tools.

I had brought down a few flagstone stepping stones, hoping that it would be enough to make a path between the patio and the stairs, but as I started looking at the project, it really wasn't going to be enough.  So our youngest daughter and I headed back to the construction sight to see what else we could find.

This looks like it might work nicely!

And look at this great pallet!

It was so caked with mud that it was pretty heavy, but we did it!

It is coming together nicely!

We ended up using the flagstone on the other side of the patio, so it didn't go to waste

While we were in the backyard, trying to be resourceful, the men were all in the garage installing a garage door opener.  I think at the end of the day they will have been much more productive than us girls, but we're having a ton of fun, so it's okay.

Now that's what I call "Using your yoga block"

Hopefully this is better than it looks!

There was even a little time for a much needed lawn mowing before lunch.

Steve brought down his lawn mower since the kids don't have one yet

The local grocery store was very helpful in preparing lunch

The men are back at work again, but I think they almost have it.

By the end of the day, they had a pretty functional backyard, and a working garage door opener and a beautifully mowed front yard!



The even had the flag mounted on the front of their house!

I think we wore him out!  He slept all the way home.

It was all completed before the rain moved in again

What a great day!  All of us were together, and we got so much accomplished!

Moving the Kids (June 30th and July 1st, 2016)

We had a really fun two days moving our oldest daughter and her husband into their new home.  The trailer was already packed with it's first load, thanks to our son (in-law's) family and the two kids. They packed the first load into the trailer while we were still in Havasu.  So the only thing we had to do was hook up the trailer and pull away.  In theory at least.

We started out at about 7:00 on Thursday morning working to get the trailer out of the garage.  We had it pretty wedged in so that we could get the "tail gate" down so it could be loaded from inside the garage, so we had to do some real maneuvering to get it back out the door.  But with Steve's ingenious mind, he figured it out, and it went perfectly. 

This picture makes the "getting it out of the garage" part look way too easy!

Once we got the trailer out, we moved on to project two, getting the second load ready for day two.  We knew that there would be a lot of help on day two, so Steve and I really wanted to make the most of it. When you have lots of people, you have lots of muscle, which is great, but you can also have lots of chaos if you're not ready for it. So we headed back into the house, to make organized piles of the remaining boxes and furniture.  That way it would be clear what was to stay, and what needed to go.  Believe it or not, Steve and I were really hoping to have a few things remaining in our house after the trailer was full.  Once we had everything marked and organized, we pulled the truck out and were on our way.  We left the house at about 10:00 am, with our trailer loaded and our muscles as rested as they could be.

And here it is, ready to go!

We stopped in Castle Rock at one of our favorite little restaurants called Santiagos and picked up two burritos to go.  Santiagos is a "fast food" Mexican restaurant that we really enjoy.  They have great carnita and bean burritos and green chili.  

We got to the kids house at about 12:00 noon, and pulled the truck and trailer into a nearby parking lot where we sat and ate our burritos and relaxed for a few minutes.

Within a few minutes, both of the kids showed up as well.  We all walked over to the house for their final walk-through.  It wasn't long until Jose showed up to walk us through the house for the final time.  

The walk-through went very well.  Everything that they said would be done was done.  The kids were so excited that it went well. Once the walk-through was over, the kids left for closing, and Steve and I planned on hanging out at the house until they came back with the key.  But to our surprise, Jose stuck around to finish a few things up, so we asked him if we could pull the trailer up and start unloading.  There was rain predicted for today, so we thought if we could get some of it unloaded before the rain, that would be a huge help. 

So we backed the trailer into the drive way and started unloading. It's so refreshing to work with a smaller builder.  They are so laid back and easy to work with compared to one of the large builders you would encounter in the Denver area.

We got started, and got a lot of their things moved into the garage

And then it started raining, right on queue. 

Break Time

As we waited for the rain to stop, the kids returned from closing.

Over the thresh hold they go!

And a quick beer while we waited for the rain to stop

We worked hard and got the trailer all unloaded and then stopped for a quick lunch break.  Steve and I had brought some Indian food with us from one of our favorite restaurants in Boulder.  It is called Tiffins, and they have a great lunch buffet.  We ordered four entrees to go.

Even though the trailer was all unloaded, there was still plenty to do. 

So we worked the afternoon away until we were all exhausted.  We called it a day and left the newly weds to themselves to enjoy their beautiful new home!

We pulled out into the pouring rain and made our way home with an empty trailer

And we hear that they had a little fun celebrating after we left!

The rain was coming down really hard most of the way home, but we were happy that the first load made it into the house without getting too wet.

Day two of moving started at 5:30 am.  We quickly showered, and Steve ran out to get some bagels for the moving crew.  When the moving crew showed up, we jumped right in, getting things moved out of the basement.  

We all just ate and worked so that we could once again try to beat the rain.  The forecast said there would be rain all day at both locations, so we thought if we can at least get their things into the trailer dry that it would be a big help.

As we made the drive to the kids new house, the skies just kept threatening, but so far, no rain!

And once we got there, the rush was on again.  Trying to beat the rain so their precious belongings would stay dry.

She's still eating her breakfast that was served at our house.  Silly girl.

Yikes, that shelving unit isn't looking too stable.

Our son (in-law) and his dad carried all of the furniture to the basement.  Not a very fun job since it has been raining for days!

Yuck!

The kitchen crew hard at work!  Our daughter's in-laws.

Our daughter and son (in law) treated us to Pizza and beer for lunch.  A much needed break after lots of heavy lifting!

He already found his Bottle Breacher bottle opener.  What luck!

Enjoying our last few minutes in the comfort of the front porch before heading back to work!

How many women does it take to load a cabinet?  Just kidding, it was mounted upside down.  Oops, I guess that will have to be fixed.

And as the work comes to a close, everyone slows down to enjoy a little relaxation.

It has been a busy two days, but there is definitely something to show for our hard work.  A few of the rooms are coming together nicely!

Bathrooms are easy, they don't take much work, but impressive that we were able to find all the pieces.

Great Grandma's furniture and the quilt that Great Grandma and her sister made.  So Pretty!

Another bathroom done!

The storage room is pretty organized

And most importantly, a place to relax once everyone leaves for the night!

Not bad for a day's work!  

I forgot to mention that as soon as we got the trailer unloaded, it began to pour again.  So it was really nice to work on the inside of there house all afternoon without any rain to bother us.

It was a bit of a wet trip home again, but you just can't hide from mother nature.

Beautiful Colorado through the rain drops

It took longer to get back to Denver than we had expected, and as we started getting close to the house, we hit traffic, and lots of it.   It was just standing still, with no where to go.

And then, after about three times of checking, the map announced that the road had been closed ahead of us.  We were going to have to find another way.  Uggh!

Oh well, we finally made it, and today we have all of the wet moving blankets stretched out on the floor of the garage drying.  

I would consider this a very successful move!