Exterior Finishing Touches

Things started coming together on the exterior of our house... roof, deck, bricks, garage doors.

Our deck is started... but we find out that we need special wood, so it will have to be torn down and chalked up to "extra lumber"...

39 weeks pregnant with Ella Dawn... she would be born later that week!

Ryan was very excited when the garage doors were installed. They are the kind that go up high to the ceiling, so there are no tracks hanging down from the garage ceiling.

ROOF! We were so excited to see the roof installed. We had Wilson Brothers Roofing as the contractors and couldn't have been happier with Howard. He was the only roof contractor that didn't act like WE were wasting his time asking for quotes and opinions.

The roof really made the house look complete and we love the multi-dimensional colors it has.

The much anticipated BRICK arches and masonry work...

I'm not lying when I say much anticipated. Ryan and I were so excited about the brick arches. When the brick was delivered and it looked solid red... we both kind of secretly panicked. (neither of us wanted to let the other know we hated the color!) But turns out the color was fine, and the variations were on the inside of the stacks!

The mason was Randy Lewis and he took just under two weeks, it seemed like eternity to Ryan and I... but he did a great job! Every brick is layed perfectly and so much detail was put into the job. We are thankful for the perfect craftsmanship... as bricks last forever!

There was so much work involved with the masonry, his hands were torn up from handling bricks all day, every day- hard work.

To complete the arch over the porch, Randy had to build a template for the bricks to rest on, then when they were dry, the wood mold came down and left us with a perfect arch.

The finished product:

On a more peaceful note... Ryan and I were at the house one night and the sun was setting, I took this picture reflecting the mountains from the back windows of our house. We can't WAIT to move in and enjoy all our hard work!

HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical

HVAC (heating and cooling), plumbing, and electrical were all working around the same time. It took a little less than two weeks for them all to be rough-ed in and ready for inspection.

Plumbing was done by Whitewater Plumbing and Tom did a great job. He was in and out with in a day or two. Instead of full copper tubing for water now they use PEX a blue and red plastic piping. Seems to be easier and practical than the old fashioned copper.

Water had to be in the tub to show it was hooked up for inspection. To hook the water up to the house, we had a utility guy, Jeremy, come instal a water meter. To gain rights to the city water, we had to pay a tap fee to City of Westminster of $23,000! WOW- just to hook up to their water... good thing they have tasty water!

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Electric wiring was a big job, it took about a week and a half to hang/wire everything. Courtesy Electric was the company and Jerry did a terrific job- he's been doing it forever and we mostly took his advice on decisions we had to make.

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HVAC

No pictures, but the only surprise here was the architects forgot to add in a "whole house air return vent". So Four Seasons Heating and AC had to put one in last minute. Luckily we were able to add it in our family room- just another unexpected cost!

Ella Dawn Green 8.28.2010

Ella Dawn Green

Born 8.28.2010

6 lbs 14 oz

19.5 inches

10:55 am

First family photo and first car ride!

Ella is getting used to being at home. It's been a week so far, and she's still "the boss"!!! We expect she'll be the boss for quite some time. :o)

Mom and dad are adjusting, slowly but surely. Dad took a week of vacation to stay home with us, and now he's back to work.

So many friends and family are blessing us with visits, food, and calls- thanks to all.

I'm sure we'll be writing more later about this newest addition to our family!

Sheathing, Windows, Doors, Trim

The walls are built and the sheathing is on!

Once they put the white protective paper, the siding/trim people start working

These are the extra big stairs we ordered, I was SO excited to see them installed- well worth all the effort and stress they caused!

Windows were installed- they took much longer than we anticipated... about 4 days, they systematically installed with siding around house.

Ryan showing off the interior walls that were built

Me showing off the interior details, like the master tub surround!

Lower level is complete, special flooring is installed and ready for living!

Siding and windows complete!

This is how they installed the siding and windows, a scaffold, nailing everything up- piece by piece.

The house really started taking shape! Next is the rest of the exterior- roof and brick, and we can finally start plumbing, HVAC, and electrical.

Showers of Love!

Man, who knew we were so lucky! We had TWO wonderful showers, and each was more than we could have hoped for in terms of food, location, weather, guests, gifts, planning, and more! Here are some pics:

Me, Angie and Chris- our sister and brother-in-law who know a thing or two about child rearing!

The Padia kids- so cute, man did they have fun that night! Bayla, Airika, Trent and Jaden.

This was the cute cake from Das Myer (sp?) bakery in Arvada~ Yum!

Heidi, Chad and Elaine Bassett came, which was a nice surprise. They are long time family friends: Elaine and my mom went to college together!

My Uncle Mark and Uncle Bob

My grandma and my mom- gotta love them both!

Then... we were lucky enough to have a different shower as well! My girlfriends, Erin and Heather threw us a baby bbq in the park and we had a lot of fun- playing kickball was a highlight for me! (probably Ryan too) They both did a lot of hard work too. Pictures are out there, I just don't have many now- but here are a few...

Opening many lovely gifts.

The park was decorated so cute and friends came to support us- it was wonderful!

Erin made her signature "diaper cake" and it was so nice. We used it at both showers and when I took it apart, I was AMAZED at how many little diapers she crammed into that thing! Thanks Erin!

It was a fun two weekends, and we are so thankful for such nice friends and family- our baby will be one lucky girl!