What a weekend!

On Saturday a group of us drove to Albert Lea, MN to help my parent's with the clean up of their house that was struck by a tornado a few months ago. It was a perfect day to be working outside - sunny, with a good breeze and low humidity. When we arrived I was amazed by the devastation that took place in a matter of minutes. To see pictures is one thing, but to walk through the damaged property and see trees completely uprooted and pieces of twisted metal scattered throughout the yard was incredible! We worked for about 8 hours and got a lot done, but there is so much more to do! I don't know how long it will take to get it all cleaned up, but if you're ever wanting to do some hard labor, just let me know! I know my parent's were extremely thankful for the help. So thanks again Katherine, Sue Ann, Angela, Katie, Jason, Amanda, Leigha and Chris!

On Sunday, Chris and I usually spend the day relaxing and spending some quality time with each other. This Sunday we did a little of that, but we also decided that in the next two weeks we are going to finish our attic! Our aunt and uncle very generously gave us a lot of new hardwood flooring and Chris wanted to install it before he starts graduate school so we started the project at 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon! In a few short hours we managed to: buy the paint and supplies, tape off the doors and shelves and get everything primed! Here are a couple before and "a work in progress" photos!

Attic before...Lots and lots
of cheap paneling

Walls primed and ready for paint!

And finally, on Sunday night Des Moines was hit by a major thunderstorm. It started around 11:00 p.m. and I'm pretty sure it poured and thunderstormed until about 2:30 a.m. In a few short hours we got about five inches of rain! These crazy storms continued on Monday night and last night which has led to some pretty significant flooding in the Des Moines area. On Monday morning I went downstairs to find a lovely wet surprise in our basement. Yep - our basement flooded for the first time since we moved in! It wasn't too terrible, but we had just moved all of that new hardwood from our aunt and uncle down there! So I took the afternoon off from work and Brad and Brita came over and helped move everything out and safely store our hardwood flooring. I am so thankful for all of their help - Brad even cleaned out our gutters for us! I went down this morning and we didn't have any new water down there so I think the gutters may have been the main problem.

Overall it was a busy, busy weekend! We got a lot done and have a lot more to do. I will keep you posted on our attic project. Tonight we will be finishing the painting and will start staining the shelves and doors. This weekend Chris and some of the guys will be starting to install the floors... I probably won't help with that project!

Please vote on what you think we should do with the room when it's done!

Favorite picture of the weekend:

Amanda, Jason and cuddles... haha