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The Story
by John Velayas  (Patty's younger brother)

* July, 1977:  Mom, Dad, and even John visit 3-R Real Estate.   We look over three properties for sale, namely one on Columbine Lake, one located on the Grand Lake north shore, and one located on the south shore, which was, many years prior, a mini ski slope area;
* That same weekend mom and dad put a hold on the south shore Grand Lake property.  There was not much there.  Lots of trees, a property that slanted down from the roadside to the lake, and 75 feet square;
* The finalization would occur later, with the title to Lot-10 Jericho Road going to mom and dad from the previous owners. 

* Summer, 1978:  Mom and dad hire the construction company "Noon to Two Construction".  First they prepare the land for the needed construction by removing the wild growth there.  Then, they install the concrete retaining wall, put in place the telephone supports and then the framing of what would be the first floor "floor" of a proposed cabin. Mom and dad tried working with them at first for them to build something, but they could not come to any decision.  As such, mom and dad seek alternatives for a potential builder;

* Up to and including August, 1979:  Mom and dad decide to hire Stan M Ream Construction to build a two-story, one bathroom, three bedroom cabin on the foundation installed a year earlier;

* August, 1979:  Dad, Stan, and John spend 12-days up in Grand Lake, and construct the shell of the cabin.  This included only the framing, exterior plywood, windows and doors, and the fiberglass shingle roof.  The Grubers helped out immensely by letting us use their power and even came over once did a bunch of them, to get the heavy, well-constructed rafters up on the top floor ceiling so they could be put in place;

* November, 1979:  Mom, dad, and John bring up some beddings for the place and actually spend a night there in the dark and cold of what was just the shell of the place.  It was here that mom and dad knew a simple but effective heat source was imperative;

* Summer, 1980:  Uncle Mike would work with dad and mom to get the electrical wiring in.  Also would come the plumbing, all done by Grand Lake Plumbing.  They decided to go with water drawn in from the lake, which was an available option.  As such, a submersible pump now lies under about 17 feet of water out from the west-end of our property.  Interior work continued, including doors and caulking.  
Also mom and dad would work hard to bring up a refrigerator and other appliances to enable some amenities while staying there in the warmer months.  The pink insulation was also installed, thus meaning more improvements were in store for 1981;

* Summer, 1981:  Mom, dad, and John  would spend a lot of time getting cheap bricks at a quarry in Boulder.  These would become the base and wall "insulator" for the most major impact thing to come that year: The upstairs wood burning stove...the place at long last had a reliable heat source!   Later this year would come a trip by dad and John to drop off 74 sheets of sheet rock.  Dad would then install it all on his own...

* 1982-1986:  During these years dad and mom would have a second iron box wood stove put downstairs, along with the chimney.  Dad and John would spend much of these years installing the exterior pine siding, improving the shop downstairs, and enclosing that in the same siding boards along with a "mini stone wall" on the north side of the shop.  Slow improvements on the inside would come as well, including the knotty pine furniture dad and mom designed and created both up and down, as well as much of the lower level knotty pine-covered walls
Also, mom and dad worked with contractors to improve the beach, put down grass seed, and tailor the "front yard".  All their original work is still there now, including dad's first home-built boat, which is buried towards the left-front of the beachfront;

* 1987:  Dad retired that year, and the place continued to get better.  He would install the fixed and floating sections of the dock, which is all still in place to this day.  Dad would spend his Summers there, and Winters now in Arizona, along with mom.  Dad created "The Junk Yard Dog", his home made boat he built the year prior in the garage in Boulder.  This would be placed in the lake that year, but unfortunately it was not sea-worthy, and would survive only that first year.  

* 1989-1991: Improvement were ongoing, including the new "scaffold" off the first floor joists.  It took much work to keep the place up, and dad and mom were always there to work hard, but never over-work!!

* 1992-1994:  Dad and mom continued the hard work, and in 1993 dad wanted to begin work on a "Summer Home":  a Gazebo, which was to be located where the fire pit is now.  He had everything defined, and in Summer-1994 dad and John worked to install the concrete footers that would be the major foundation for this new construction.
Unfortunately we would abruptly lose daddy in October of that year, and decided not to pursue his idea.  As such, those concrete footers slowly got covered as everything returned to nature following that year.

* 1995-1999:  The family would work to keep the place up, and prevent the elements from being able to get a foothold.  Nothing major was done during this time, as the number one concern now was to keep it up so that mommy could continue to enjoy it;

* Summer, 2000:  Mom always wanted a lovely blue roof, to go with the blue shutters.  As such, we installed the new blue metal roof in September of that year;

* 2001-2014:  Duties during this time included mostly maintenance, to assure no deterioration could occur.  We did the following:
                                        - replace the east and west-side walkway planks
                                        - replace the dock's railings
                                        - install the cedar walkway steps from the road down to the shop and beach
                                        - complete the downstairs walls knotty pine coverings
                                        - install new tile in the bathroom and behind the upstairs stove
                                        - remove the entire old scaffolding, and replaced it with exterior-grade lumber and planks
      
During this time a big push again was to make the place something wonderful that mommy could enjoy.  Unfortunately she could never really go back after 2011, but all was maintained well out of honor for both our wonderful parents;

* 2015 and forward....the baton began to be passed.  First would come a year of upkeep same as the previous 14, then we'd work to make it all sales-worthy.  This would come in 2016 and 2017.........................................

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