For those that have been following along, you'll know that my mom and I took care of my elderly Oma (grandmother) until she passed away. After she passed, we both started fresh. We sold both houses and my mom bought a brand new house, built to her specifications. That was a huge step for all of us, but especially for my mom. That was her first time ever selling or buying a home.

Our home prior to the devastating hail storm.

It has been 3 years since my Oma passed away but when I think back on those days of taking care of her, it seems like just yesterday. But so many things have happened, including that giant hailstorm that hit us, causing tons of damage to our house. That was last June. It's been almost a year now and we are still working on getting all of the damage repaired, as are many of our neighbors.

The siding looked like some hit golf balls at it. I described it as Swiss cheese.

So far, we've had the windows, roof, gutters and fencing replaced. Recently we had the first layer of stucco put on our house. Like many of our neighbors, we decided to stucco the whole house in the hopes that it would be more durable in a massive hailstorm were we to be hit again.

The hail broke 2 windows and one window frame.

But getting here has been a fight. Luckily our contractor has been amazing. So many of the insurance companies were overwhelmed with claims that they hired a lot of new adjusters. The person who did our adjustment had never done one on his own before. Something was off in his measurements and so the insurance company only awarded my mom $200 to reside her house. That wasn't even enough to do what all needed to be replaced. Our contractor fought for us and ended up getting my mom the money she really deserved. It was enough that we were able to afford stucco instead of replacing broken vinyl.

Our baseball sized hail stones.

But in Colorado, it's cold during the winter and you can't do stucco when it's below 50 degrees. It took a while to get to this first layer of stucco. In fact, our house sat with the chicken wire on it for quite some time before they were able to stucco our home. It was covered in the wire just before Christmas and we just finally got the first coat of stucco on in early March! Now we wait 5 days for it to cure before they apply the color coat. But we will have to wait for another nice day.

Our house during the holiday season, partially covered in the water barrier and the chicken wire.

I know what you are thinking, if you are someone who does not live in the Rocky Mountain region. "But it's spring! You should have plenty of nice days now!" No. The answer to that, is no. That old saying of "April showers bring May flowers" does not apply to the Rocky Mountain region. It's more like "April snowstorms bring slightly warmer days in May." April is the snowiest month in Colorado. Even tulips don't generally show up until late May. Planting flowers on Mother's Day in Colorado is like playing Russian roulette! There is always a chance of a late freeze.

A close up of the chicken wire. They use foam to mold the pop-outs around the doors and windows.

And if this March has been any indication of what April will be like, then our mountain towns are in for a doozy of an April. But I live in a valley in the foothills on the front range so snow is more mild for us, unless there is an Albuquerque low, in which case that means it's a blizzard and my little valley gets buried under 5 and a half feet of snow. But even when our snow is more mild, the temperatures are still bitterly cold.

But we are patient and willing to wait. We want the stucco done right and not falling off in chunks because it was put on when it was too cold for it to properly cure and dry. But once the stucco is complete, all we'll have left is the banister on our front porch, our garage door and the facia trim on the roofline! Like everyone else in the neighborhood, we are excited to be finished with all of the repairs and move on--it has been nearly a year since that hailstorm.

My garden in the backyard after the hail storm. I hope the plants all grow back strong this year.

After the house repairs, it will be a wait and see game with my gardens. Did my peonies survive? I hope so. My hosta seemed to recover quite nicely, but peonies are finicky. And I'm so ready for spring in my garden, the lush greens and colorful petals, the sweet scents of flowers on the breeze. I'm still hopeful.