One of my favorite days...

G A R A G E  C L E A N - U P  D A Y !





Complete with a picnic!

...

This is heaven.

Being at home...

together!



Lending a Hand

This year Bella and I tackled the

Mormon's Helping Hands Project

at a local park.

Our task:

To locate, clear, and stake oak seedlings.

I also volunteered to take photos of the event

and loved my instructions:

"Avoid taking pictures of smiley people staring a the camera."

What?!?

But it's a bunch of Mormons!

My Bella

Happily NOT smiling.

There's the one and only oak seedling we found!

Seriously,

it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack...

or a frown admidst this crowd!

{ he-he}

Allergies aside,

it was a great day!

I LOVE spending time with my daughter,

and lunch afterwards is always a treat.

Thanks for a wonderful day, Isabella!

I love working beside you, sweetheart!

Love,

Mom

Hearts of Gold, But Real, You Know?

I can't even write this without crying.

With all the craziness of replacing our floors,

we never once considered asking family for help.

Call it pride, call it stupidity,

but we were excited and determined to take on this project

as a family and see it through to the end.

Like idiots,

from the beginning,

Samuel's brother, Joe, offered his help,

and we refused.

See,

the Joe Elmer Family is no less

pressed for time than we are.

Recently graduating from nursing school,

he's working the crazy hours that a nurse works,

while Jessica manages their home

and the caring of three very energetic boys.

They have TONS on their own to-do list,

and we know what it means for this family to

sacrifice still more time away from their dad.

In the end,

Joe came.

The whole family came.

They served us.

They loved us.

And we are so, so grateful.

...

We love you, guys!

We owe you big,

think kidney's, first child, and the like...

{ Wouldn't you like to take Bella home with you? 

She's a sweet girl... :) }

We know it's not about payback,

but seriously,

we're here for you too.

Love ALWAYS,

The Elmer Family

Samuel, Olivia, Isabella, Ava, Iris, Owen, & Gabriel

March Madness: A House Ripped Apart Before Being Put Back Together Again

March was truly madness for us.

Prior to our home warranty expiring,

several cracks appeared in the ceiling of the family room

& kitchen and the garage.

The repairs would take one week to complete,

with no access to those areas of the home from 8AM - 4PM.

Yikes!

Those areas are truly the heart of the home.

But we buckled down,

and here we go... 

When all was said and done,

the work was flawless!

I lost my sanity a few times,

but overall,

things went quickly.

...

But why stop there?

Since we were already in a state of craziness,

with Samuel on Spring Break,

and our tax refund in the bank,

we decided to install new flooring!

Now the construction zone would incorporate almost

every living space except the kids bedroom and the tiled areas.

Yes,

we are crazy!

Owen found it to be a pirates haven!

And Gabriel practiced his climbing skills!

 Burning the midnight oil!

You always break for a great lunch!

A rare treat for the kids:

Whole Candy Bars!

Why?

I felt so guilty for keeping them confined to

certain parts of the house and

letting them watch movie after movie on the boob tube!

So of course,

I offer them junk food!

Way to go, Mom! 

{ Sigh }

My baby:

The Hallway 

I'm so happy and proud.

It's like giving birth!

{ Just kidding!  This is way better!  Just kidding, again...  }

Bella,

checking things out and dying to slip and slide!

Things were coming along nicely,

and then we hit the tiny patch of tile in the entry way.

Talk about stubborn mortar!

The solution,

grind it with a diamond bit.

The result:

Bittersweet.

The mortar came out,

but dust went...

E V E R Y W H E R E !

Now I know why the home repair guys

went to such lengths covering everything up with tarps!

The story behind this piece is that the work

on this room (or most of the work)

was actually completed days prior,

and in Samuel's absence,

a fact which nearly killed him.

How it worked out was that he had to go to school,

which meant that he would miss out on seeing things through to the end.

 

Thankfully, due to the big, BIG hearts of his

brother Joe and his family,

they stayed on to help finish up the work.

And we did,

except for 5 measly inches!

Try as we might,

we could not find any material to fit that last little bit!

And so that room remained incomplete,

until an order could be placed and received for more material,

which meant that Samuel would be home

to lay the last piece afterall!

{ For my blubbering on the Joe Elmers, see here! }

And so,

to Samuel's delight,

and order was placed,

and he was able to ceremoniously place the last piece!

Ta-da!
...

Is that March Madness, or what?

A New Roof

Putting on a new roof is a ton of work!

But if you're blessed with family-

ward family included,

the task is a whole lot easier.

This weekend,

we were blessed to spend some extra time

with the Joe Elmers.

And I'm not kidding when I say "blessed".

The kids loved the extra time with their cousins,

the men (and Jessica) got in quite a workout,

the women got a chance to visit,

and we all partook of Jessica's fabulous

jalapeno-laced burgers!

Delicious!

Aunt Rachel helping baby Noah tackle Owen!

Aunt Jessica taking a turn with my baby!

Iris,

daring the double hoola-hoop!

Best buds:

Ava & Jake

These boys worked hard!

...

Thanks for the get-together, guys!

We had a great, great time!





Weeds, Work, & Love

Samuel and I participated in the state-wide,
"Mormon Helping Hands" service project
alongside tens of thousands of members of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in California. 

Weed-eaters in hands,
we took to a lengthy section of Roseville's biketrails
and cleared the over-growth. 

It was an invigorating experience,

and my favorite moment was hearing of how a local neighbor

 saw what we were doing and jumped in to help out. 

The spirit of this gospel is catching,

and I am grateful to be apart of this great work

and to share it with others.

After the project Samuel and I were starving! 

We headed to Togos for our favorite:  The Number 24. 

And laughed at the number of odd looks we garnered

for being covered from head to toe in remnants of wild brush!

Even though we talked very little during the project-
the noise from the weed-eaters made it virtually impossible
to hear anything!-
I felt close to my sweetheart.
 
It was definitely an experience that drew us closer together.

Service has a way of doing that.

Chinese Take-out

We surprised Dad with Chinese takeout for lunch, and Gabriel watched on as we munched on orange chicken and broccoli beef.  It was a fun afternoon and we enjoyed spending some time together.