Wanna hear about our trip? (part five--Naomi's 4th birthday)

It was so nice waking up in tents on the beach, hearing the waves gently lapping at the shore. What a pleasant way to start out Naomi's 4th birthday and our week at the Marquette house! Our neighbors John & Jennifer fed all of us breakfast, and we got to visit and "catch up" a bit.

Once the people staying at our house left, we checked out how things looked over there. It was fun to be "back home", and I started in on my work in the house, washing curtains and making things the way I wanted them to be. We'd acquired quite a few decorations and odds & ends of things in the past year, so I tossed the ones I didn't like and was thankful to whomever it was that added the ones I wanted to keep. :)

Our friend Jim came with roofing supplies he'd generously offered that we could use, so Matt, Nathan & Jim got to work on stripping off the old shingles. Another friend, Garret, came to help that day as well. David & Marissa, and Nathan & Heidi's oldest kids--Sydney and Calvin--helped, too.

In the photo, they've got the shingles off and are working on the tar paper. The new shingles are on the left side of the photo, waiting for their turn.

Our friend Katie came and helped with other things while her husband Garret was up on the roof. She and Heidi helped me take down the old skateboarding border in David's room, and here she is overseeing the younger kids' play with sand. (We were airing out the kids' room mattresses there on the deck, in case you wondered.)

It was just a beautiful day for working outside, and the guys got sunburnt, despite using sunblock. Everyone told us that we brought the sun with us when we came!

Since we knew Naomi's birthday was going to be busy with work, we planned her big party for the next day, a Sunday, when we wouldn't be working anyway. But I couldn't let the actual day pass without a little bit of a party! So here's the birthday girl, just before bedtime, ready to blow out the candles on a quick box mix cake Heidi whipped up.







It probably doesn't look like a "little" party to you, but our day was bustling with activity all day long. There were ten kids and six adults for most of the day. :)


I think Naomi had a great 4th birthday!