Oh my goodness I don’t even know where to begin!

As for my back, I am sore from surgery but again, nothing like I have been experiencing the last six weeks! I am following doctor orders and listening to my body when it is indicating for me to rest. Friends and family have started bringing meals for us and the first night I sat down at the table the kids seemed so confused. Again, over six weeks it has been of me not eating at the dinner table due to being in too much pain to sit through an entire meal and kids were ecstatic when I was able to join them!

Finally, family meals again where we can catch up on each other’s day and visit about what we would like the rest of our summer to look like! 

As long as I rotate positions between laying, sitting and standing, the pain is bearable. However, I am still not able to travel long distances in the car, preferably no longer than a 10 minute drive. But I am okay with that!! It really has only been five days since my surgery and I am extremely grateful for the progress I have made thus far! 

And today, what an overwhelming day of being blessed by my family and friends. My aunt Barb apparently set up a “cleaning crew” to come over and clean our house! Don’t get excited though…they specifically said they won’t do this for just anyone! 😜

So bright and early this morning, my aunt Barb, my mom and then their cousins Lori, Diane and Suzan all showed up with cleaning supplies, vacuums and plenty of food!

While I know some of them are pretty determined when it comes to cleaning, it wasn’t until I heard my aunt Barb say “let’s walk through and assess the situation,” that I realized this was probably going to be a little more intense than I imagined!😍

Once they had an idea on what needed to be done they got their game plan figured out as to who was doing what…  …and then it was go time! When Suzan took a rug outside to beat it and a storm of dust came flying back at her, she got a good taste of how much work they were really in for!! Followed by sweeping, dusting, polishing, stairs, toilets, bedrooms…   

   

 Even vacuuming beds?! And that was all before lunch…which according to aunt Barb…lunch was scheduled for 11:30am…no sooner…no later, just kidding! 😜This gave us an opportunity to pose for some pictures…and ya gotta love Skye’s photo bomb…        

 And our friend Alyssa came over to visit and help out as well while Leah and her daughter got the chance to play together! Alyssa and Asher worked out in the garden picking beans, lettuce and a lot of weeds! She totally made Tim’s day when he came home to see fewer weeds in the garden!

Tim and Nathan were also able to grab a quick lunch before heading back to the farm!    After some good food, everyone was back at it to finish up the last loads of laundry, more sweeping, more mopping and a quick run to Wal-Mart for last minute supplies! 

And instead of one mom telling me to lay down, I had five moms staying on top of me to make sure I wasn’t overdoing anything. So while resting,   I think by far the best part of the day was listening to what these women said to each other and all of the laughs that they shared…sometimes at each other’s expense!  

And while I would love to share some of the things I heard…we were all sworn in on oath, by aunt Barb of course, that what is said or happens at the farm…stays at the farm!😂😂😂 

But, to give you an idea of some of the craziness that went on…my mom and Lori came in to show me what Suzan was using for rags to clean with!😳We might need to go through and clean again!😂😂😂  What a long day for everyone and I cannot begin to thank them enough!! Every room in our house became spotless, even the wooden floor and stairs seemed to shine! Tim said we have to eat outside from now on!😉

We gave aunt Barb a hard time for being in charge and a working fool but everything got accomplished!!😀

Aunt Barb was also the last one to leave, give me hugs and say goodbye…and once she was out the door I sat down and just cried…overwhelmed by the amazing support from my family. Aunt Barb drove a couple of hours while the others didn’t have to drive as far, but still sacrificed a day to help me out. They cleaned, provided meals, bought new bedding and rugs and supplies for our home! And throughout the full eight hours that they were here, they still gave the kids attention and made sure I was doing okay…making sure I didn’t need anything along the way! 😍

I also know that while I would love to do something for them in return, they would not accept it. I love our family and I love how they have rallied together in order to provide Tim and me some comfort in having one less BIG thing such as housekeeping…to worry about during my long road to recovery. And I think this is the first time EVER that I have no laundry!!

So to mom, aunt Barb, Lori, Suzan, Diane and Alyssa…thank you…thank you…thank you for being such a tremendous blessing to our family! We love you all dearly and know God is going to bless you all because of your extreme kindness and generosity!

And thank you to our great kids, especially Nathan and Skyler for helping extra around the house and farm as well!

Overwhelmed by all that the ladies have done today but it makes life so much more enjoyable when clutter is no more and our living environment is organized!

From the bottom of my heart…thank you!