Turkey Day

We always have much to be thankful for, and we count our blessings each and every day: for a happy, healthy family, for shelter and many modern conveniences that make our lives easier, great friends, and a loving savior, Jesus Christ, who mas made eternal families, forgiveness, and resurrection possible.

We celebrated the day at my Mom's house with James's family, and Sam.  It was quieter than usual, but it was also very relaxing.  We ate until we felt ashamed, vegged out to Mario Kart, scoured the ads, and played Yahtzee.  It was a perfect Thanksgiving!

Look how big all of these kids are getting!

Week 13- That's gonna leave a mark.

We could do without another week like this. Building went ok, excluding Saturday when we were pushed out by the rain and sleet causeing our power tools to trip the breakers again. Super glad I invested in my Muck boots!

What made this week rough: injuries.

Tuesday night Jeremiah Baker was on the roof of house 8 when he accidentally shot a nail through his knee. He basically toenailed his joint in place, blowing a quarter sized hole through the weight baring portion of his femur. 

It isn't pretty. It took 5 guys to carefully get him off the roof and to the ER. He had surgery in the middle of the night, and will have another surgery in about a month to place a cadaver plug into his bone. He won't be working until February, which is terrible for our group, but even worse for the Baker's. We are all trying to get in extra hours to donate to their family.

Then on Saturday, first thing in the morning, Dallas was lifting a compressor to move a hose when suddenly he just dropped to the floor. After an exam from our PA friend, we feel confidant it is just a muscle injury in his back. Dallas has spent the better part of two days laying on either the bed or the couch. He will for sure be unable to work on the house for the upcoming week, and we are hoping he will feel good enough the next week to start building again. 

In the meantime we are feeling very blessed by family, friends, and ward members who have stepped up to help us get our required hours on the houses. We cannot do this alone.

Week 12- Here comes the COLD!

First day aside, we have been enjoying unseasonably warm weather as we have been building these houses. That all changed this week. The cold has arrived, and it is here to stay! We layer, and layer, work, and then come home to apple cider and a hot bath. 

We did a lot of punch list work this week, which isn't as fun because there isn't as much visual progress. I did learn how to install windows! That was fun. Then on Saturday Austin and his girlfriend Lindsy came to volunteer, so the four of us sheeted the backside of the roof of lot 7. We froze, but we laughed more than anything. I love it when Dallas and Austin get to hang out together. Those two have a special bond. 

Lastly- we saw progress on our house! They dropped our lumber package, and our green plate is partially installed. Exciting! Can't wait to start working on OUR house!

Shanna & Jason Alldredge

Dallas' oldest sister Shanna got married!  It was a really sweet day to see the union of Shanna and Jason and their two families.  Jason has two little kids, Logan and Madeline, and Shanna has Thomas.  It made us all so happy to see them become a family together.  Madeline couldn't be there because she lives out of state with her mother.  We are looking forward to meeting her over Christmas!

They were married in Evanston by Jason's bishop on November 14th.  They were married by Jason's bishop and had a lot of family support.  All of Dallas' siblings were able to attend except for one- considering how spread out we are and how many of us there are, this was a small miracle in itself!  We always love getting together, especially for such a happy occasion.

 Don't I have the most gorgeous sister's in law?!  They are all so beautiful and I am so blessed to have them as sisters.  I don't know what I would do without each one!

One other special thing was that Annie was able to be Shanna's flower girl!  Annie was so excited to have such an important job.  We loved picking out dresses to match for the little girls, and making sure Annie felt beautiful on this special day.  I love that little girl of mine!

Week 11

Great progress! 5 houses are standing, and we were able to pull off a huge truss day as we put trusses on 2 homes this week- Seawright's (lot 10) and Robinson's (lot 7). We were all feeling excited after our big day, and grateful for perfect weather so we could get a lot done.

Our house is still lonely without any lumber, but we did get our driveway and patio poured! We even got to leave our mark. 

Week 10

This past week was a lot: Work, Young Women's, school parties, Halloween, visitors, baptism, HOUSE. By the end of it Dallas and I would have welcomed a coma. We survived and everything went beautifully. 

Dallas was busy framing walls, and I finished the stair case from the-place-that-will-not-be-named. There was a small set of stairs, then a landing, then a step down, then another landing, then another short set of stairs.... I bet I pulled out a million nails! Phew! Glad it's over

It was a good week building and we saw some great progress. The weather on Saturday was pretty ugly and we were unable to put trusses on the Robinson's house. Now we are 2 weeks behind on trusses-- shoot! Hopefully it won't affect the move in date.

Leaving our mark!

Will's Baptism Day

What a special day this was for our family.  November 1, 2014- Will's baptism day!  He was nervous and excited for the big day, and Dallas and I were so proud of him.  The room was full to the brim with family and friends- they kept having to bring in more chairs.  There was so much love and support for Will, and we were so thankful.  Dallas both baptized and confirmed Will.  How grateful I am to have such a worthy priesthood holder as a husband and father.

Will's favorite cousin, James Robinson, prepared a talk for baptism.  I could see him as a future missionary!  James is a great example to Will, so it meant a lot that he was willing to speak.   

 

Will shared his special day with his best buddy, Beckham.  He has the greatest group of friends here!  His other buddies Julian, Tobin and Luke were there to support them.  These boys!  They know what is right, they are fearless leaders, and they choose the right together.  Pictured below are Will, Beckham Carter, and Julian and Tobin Thomas.

We all felt the spirit through testimonies and music.  When we sang "Families Can Be Together Forever" at the close of the meeting, Dallas, Will and I were all crying.  We talk all the time about how the thing we want more than anything is to be a family forever.  Will took the first step yesterday as he chose to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ, into the waters of baptism.  We are so proud, and feel so blessed as a family.