Extreme Makeover house in Richland Center, WI Picture Stacy and Dana with one of the stars, Paige
Family picture at the beach.
Family picture at the beach.From Left to Right Cami, Austin, Ben, Kylie, and Ian
Cami loves to swim
Ben and Austin holding hands walking back from the park.
Last Friday, I had the opportunity to go to Richland Center, WI to volunteer with Extreme Makeover Home Edition. My friend, Stacy, and I headed out at 4 am to make the almost 2 hour drive there to board a bus to the home of the Wisconsin winners from Extreme Makeover. Upon arriving at the house, we were given instructions that we would be clearing out the house for the demolition which would take place on Saturday. 45 volunteers entered the house with garbage bags and garbage cans to start cleaning. To say that the house was filthy and falling apart is an understatement. This family was in desperate need of a newer home (read about the family at http://veridiangives.com/dream/family/). Since the furnace was out this winter, the mother used a small wood burning stove to keep warm. Everything in the house was covered in soot from it. It took us about 5 hours to clear out every inch of that house. There were about 2 dozen or more volunteers outside clearing out the garbage and also the boxes of stuff to be saved from the 45 plus volunteers from inside the house. It is amazing how much stuff one house can hold. Needless to say, I was more than ready to go home and clean out my own home after this experience! We left a little after one to ensure that we would be back to Eastside Lutheran to see Ben and Hank (Stacy's son) play their last game at soccer / VBS camp. We made it just in time to see them play and then enjoyed a nice cookout.
Things are never calm at our house, so after an extremely LONG day of activity, I hurried home with Ben to let our sitter, Rachel, go from watching Cami and Ian all day so I could volunteer. We finished packing, waited for Justin to come home and then piled in the car to head to Milwaukee to get on a plane to California to visit Mike, Allison, Austin, and Kylie for the weekend. We arrived in LA at 11pm local time or 1am for our body clock and headed to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel to find that they were sold out of 2 bed rooms for the night. Since we were on an airline employee discount, upgrades are not common. Thankfully the lady at the desk took mercy on us and offered us an upgrade to a suite. The room was HUGE. There was more than enough room for the king size bed, pull out couch, crib, table and chairs, desk, etc. Plus there was a ton of room for the kids to run and play! We were very thankful that God took care of us. We needed sleep and room to run after a long day.
We headed down to Irvine on Saturday morning and had a wonderful, relaxing time with everyone. I love seeing the kids play together. It is so awesome that they get to grow up together despite the distance. I pray that this can continue over the years!
Cami loves to swim
Ben and Austin holding hands walking back from the park.
Last Friday, I had the opportunity to go to Richland Center, WI to volunteer with Extreme Makeover Home Edition. My friend, Stacy, and I headed out at 4 am to make the almost 2 hour drive there to board a bus to the home of the Wisconsin winners from Extreme Makeover. Upon arriving at the house, we were given instructions that we would be clearing out the house for the demolition which would take place on Saturday. 45 volunteers entered the house with garbage bags and garbage cans to start cleaning. To say that the house was filthy and falling apart is an understatement. This family was in desperate need of a newer home (read about the family at http://veridiangives.com/dream/family/). Since the furnace was out this winter, the mother used a small wood burning stove to keep warm. Everything in the house was covered in soot from it. It took us about 5 hours to clear out every inch of that house. There were about 2 dozen or more volunteers outside clearing out the garbage and also the boxes of stuff to be saved from the 45 plus volunteers from inside the house. It is amazing how much stuff one house can hold. Needless to say, I was more than ready to go home and clean out my own home after this experience! We left a little after one to ensure that we would be back to Eastside Lutheran to see Ben and Hank (Stacy's son) play their last game at soccer / VBS camp. We made it just in time to see them play and then enjoyed a nice cookout.Things are never calm at our house, so after an extremely LONG day of activity, I hurried home with Ben to let our sitter, Rachel, go from watching Cami and Ian all day so I could volunteer. We finished packing, waited for Justin to come home and then piled in the car to head to Milwaukee to get on a plane to California to visit Mike, Allison, Austin, and Kylie for the weekend. We arrived in LA at 11pm local time or 1am for our body clock and headed to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel to find that they were sold out of 2 bed rooms for the night. Since we were on an airline employee discount, upgrades are not common. Thankfully the lady at the desk took mercy on us and offered us an upgrade to a suite. The room was HUGE. There was more than enough room for the king size bed, pull out couch, crib, table and chairs, desk, etc. Plus there was a ton of room for the kids to run and play! We were very thankful that God took care of us. We needed sleep and room to run after a long day.
We headed down to Irvine on Saturday morning and had a wonderful, relaxing time with everyone. I love seeing the kids play together. It is so awesome that they get to grow up together despite the distance. I pray that this can continue over the years!
