Happy New Year !

As 2015 approaches, the snow is coming down like a never ending ticker tape parade.  Phil is out clearing the driveway with his leaf blower;  the snow is so dry it clears easily with the blower as long as it doesn't sit too long.  Unfortunately, Phil woke this morning to a flat tire so I'm going to write the blog this time and send some pics of our new place.  We're moved in for the most part.

Our furniture arrived on November 17 and we entertained on Thanksgiving!  Sister Renee and Brother -In-Law, Lynn came as our first guests and we had a wonderful time.  The weather was mild enough to enjoy our roof top fire pit.  The lights in the distance sparkle more brightly than what this picture depicts and are an added, unexpected treat!

Lynn is an early riser and just likes to be outside so he took some great pics.   We are truly enjoying the wildlife, the skies and the views!  Yes, we see this every day (well sometimes it is covered in snow) and we love it!

Having company so soon after everything arrived was a great motivator for getting stuff put away.  Here's where we are now with the house....

Our bottle wall greets you...

Here's a little place under the stairway to look at photo albums or put on your boots....The floors in the entry level are stained concrete.  They look nice and are super easy to clean.  They can be cold, but not as much as I feared. 

Here's the guest bedroom  We took my childhood bed out of storage and converted it from a double to a queen.

The guest bathroom vanity is a repurposed china hutch that we painted and the mirror was  a thrift store find that we painted.  This room came together really well if I do say so myself!  Other rooms on the entry level are the exercise room and the workroom.

Coming up the stairs

Kitchen and dining room are the first thing you see coming up the stairs...

Turn around and there is the living room.  The door leads to a little covered patio with a super built in BBQ! 

Colin, Kirsten, Graham and Quinn came for a week.  Here they are at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.  We also went to the Air Force Academy (impressive), to Dinosaur Ridge to check out some fossils, and other usual tourist spots since this was Colin's first time here.   The boys had a great time just climbing and hiking in our neighborhood.

Beer break with Lynn and Renee at the Coors Brewery in Golden.  It was great to go with Lynn because he absolutely LOVES Coors light.  The tour was interesting but wasn't as good as when I last visited in the 80s.   I recommend the Celestial Seasonings tour in Boulder as a better alternative.   

Powder room...the counter top is a piece of natural edged maple, and yes, that circle thingy is another little bottle wall.

Laundry room.  The upper cabinet is a repurposed china hutch that we painted.

Well, this program is not letting me add more pictures to this particular blog.  I'll have to do a Happy New Year (part 2).