Thirty

I just wanted to tell my family and everyone thanks for the phone calls, well-wishes, cards, cookies and packages and for making my birthday so special. Isabelle made me something every day this whole month. Sometimes it was a picture, story, dance, treasure hunt, but it was something special every day till my birthday.

Anton and Isie got up early and decorated the house and got us breakfast at McDs.
Anton surprised me by taking a half a day off work and coming home. We went to lunch and got me a new coat. Then we test drove a car I want...some day. They spoiled me big time. Coat, earrings, wallet, socks, and iPhone. Big time. It was so fun.

Then we went swimming in the evening at Lava. Anton came prepared with candles and a lighter and bought some hostess so I could have a cake at the gas station on the way home. A whole day for me. We were all worn out. It was awesome. Thanks so much, guys, for being so thoughtful and making my birthday so special. Sure smoothed the loss of my youth. I love you more than anything.

Overcoming Addiction

Did you know Anton and I have a problem?

It started out helping us with our headaches from not sleeping during the graveyard shift days. My dad says I have joined the dark side and that I can't come home anymore because he is strictly a Pepsi drinker. One day Anton told the people he works with that he needs to kick his Coke habit. That sounded worse than it is. So we try to keep it quiet. It just tastes so stinking good! It makes me happy. So happy, in fact, that Anton's sister, Lexie, got us these shirts:

And this is us with Lexie. I think she is might be making this face cause Anton stinks. His head really isn't half the size of mine (though I do have a noggin); just a humorous angle:

Almost There

Thanks to my Dad's hard work, we are almost put back together. We have our new floors down and wall up. We just have some trim and painting and then we are done! Between our water damage, surgery/complications, new callings, and holidays it's been a long couple of months, but we have received a lot of prayers and help. So thanks everyone. Here's a preview of the almost done work:

p.s. thanks to this floor and new paint our house smells better and feels cleaner. hal. le. lu. jah.

Flood 2: The Stink Is Back

Tip for anyone with a seven year-old: make sure he or she is aware that the shower curtain remains IN the shower during a shower. Even if showers are a normal part of the weekly routine and he or she had taken too many to count. And ESPECIALLY if you have already had a soggy, stinky bathroom floor. Cause now it's soggy and stinky again! Por ejemplo:

We did try to take precautions by laying plastic on our entire bathroom floor and taping (with duct tape) it high on the bath tub, but apparently it was pulling away a little and, to our dismay, Isie thought that the water would more successfully stay in the shower if the curtain was out of the way. Bad combo.

Fortunately, it was five minutes and no longer cause it is drying fast. Good lesson for all of us:

P.S. After changing our minds thirty times (making several people crazy, Ben), we decided on and purchased some tile yesterday. Hooray!

Water Damage (Caution: Gross Pictures)

We had a pipe break behind our shower. Our floor in our bathroom, laundry room, and kitchen had to be torn out, along with a wall and some trim.

So I did a little of this...

Thankfully, my Dad came and fixed the plumbing and reframed the wall...

while my mom entertained (and treated) my kids...

A restoration company came and ripped up our floors...

(laundry room)

(kitchen)

moved our house around...

(this is where our table usually is)

(obviously, we don't usually kill two birds with one stone)

and put a huge dehumidifier and 8 super fans all over our house...

Since we were "potty"-less, our insurance company sent us up to the Marriott for three nights...

(the girls had a ball swimming and enjoying their own flat screen)

Well, after it was dry enough to put our toilet back in, we headed home. We still had some fans drying though...

(this one was positioned the worst; similar to a bidet, but air instead of water)

The fans were similar to what I imagine it's like to sleep next to Niagra Falls and we are still trying to figure out how to shuffle things around and continue with our day-to-day routine until we get our new floors done (woo-hoo!)...

(Emie trying to enjoy "Monters Inc." in between chair legs)

(no dryer = creative clothes lines)

We are just so blessed for all the help we have received. The fans are gone now and soon things will be back in place.