For you, Tim.

Today I learned that a highschool friend of mine, Tim Tuke, passed away from brain cancer. He was married with two children; a three year old boy and a baby girl. My heart broke as I thought of his family and what a huge loss they are experiencing. He was so young- only 31. We spent a lot of time together our senior year as he was in both Advanced Theater and Musical Productions with me at Davis High. Tim was the best kind of person; he never complained, was always ready to help and I don't think I ever saw him without a smile. He will be missed by many. 

To honor Tim today, I played with my son. We built Leo's for over an hour. It is something I get to do (and often take for granted), and I know Tim would have loved to do that with his boy when he turns 8. 

Tim, thanks for making the world a happier place.

Week 26- Last Truss Day

We are at a fun stage of this building process as we complete tasks on homes for the last time! We finished framing and trussing house 10 this last weekend. We celebrated with a potluck! I will miss this part of the process a lot though. Framing is fun!

Dexter Edwards and Shayne and Crystsl Norton finished up framing the walls.

On the last set of trusses I finally got to help! It was fun to be a part of it. The crane is cool and trusses are terrifying and exciting all at once. Added bonus was being able to work with Dallas in the morning. We don't typically get to work on the same task together. 

Sunny or snowing- the weather couldn't make up its mind on Saturday. 

Week 25

When you start going through orientation for Self Help Homes you hear horror stories of terrible accidents that have happened in the past. What they don't tell you are the thousands of little ways you will injure yourself: collating in your eye, nails bending around a knot in the wood and going into your finger, ladders slamming down in your fingers, ladders falling on you, falling into window wells, stepping on nails, hitting your fingers with a hammer, hitting your thumb with a hammer tack, pinching your fingers in the light pole and getting a blood blister, sawdust in your eyes, hitting your head on braces, trigger finger, tendonitis in your elbow... You get the picture. All of these have happened to Dallas or me in the last 4 1/2 months. I have never had so many bruises in my life. 

I keep mentioning the weather- it really has been unbelievable! I saw on the news that we have had 29 days in a row of above normal temperatures. We aren't complaining! Just check out this 10 day forecast. 

The houses are still moving right along! We put the trusses up on the 9th house with no issues, and the tenth house is well on its way to being framed. 

I did find a squatter in my house: a mouse! Shayne Norton took care of business right away. Protein snack!

Hopefully the next residents will be us!

Happy President's Day

 We spent the day with some of our favorite people- Grandma Kristie and Grandpa Mark up in Star Valley.  It had been way too long, and thanks to President's Day we were able to sneak up there for a visit after we finished at the houses for the weekend.  We got together and made sugar cookies, played games, talked about Abby, and let the kids run wild.  It was a great weekend.

Still growing!

Annie has been officially growing her hair out for 2 months now!  She is loving being able to pull her hair into a pony tail for the first time in her life and can't wait until she can have a bun (which is still a long time from now).  We miss her bob sometimes, but this is a fun new adventure, and no matter what her hair looks like we think she is so beautiful.

Week 24- We're dried in!

By some kind of miracle, we got our house completely shingled in ONE WEEK. This is a miracle! Especially when you consider the fact that the first house took us over a month. 

I also got to install all of our windows and our exterior doors were delivered! It was an exciting week. 

The first house in our group has now been painted, has the vinyl floor down, cabinets, and is getting carpet next week! Holy cow! These are going to be real houses!

The weather has been amazing. Sunny and in the 50's. I haven't worn my bibs in weeks. We need snow so badly, but Dallas and I can't bring ourselves to fast for it like everyone else. We are so selfish!

Annie lost her first tooth!

After weeks and weeks and weeks of wiggling, I finally pulled Annie's first tooth out!  She didn't even realized I had done it until I told her.  That thing was barely hanging on!  She can't wait for the Tooth Fairy to come for the first time; I just hope the Tooth Fairy doesn't forget!

Laura is having a baby!

It seems like we have all been waiting a long time for Tyler and Laura to become parents.  They have been the best aunt and uncle for years, and now they get to have one of their own.  We are all so excited for them!  I was so glad I could be there to celebrate Laura and the incredible mother she will be.

Above: Laura and her mom, my Aunt Elaine Wilson.

Below: The sister(s-in-law), Kim, Andrea, Laura, Elaine, Joy and Daisy.

Lately...

Most of the posts on this blog lately have been about the house.  It is mostly consuming our lives, but not completely.  We still get out occasionally and see friends and family as well as doing fun things together.  We got to go to our cousin Natalie Kaiserman's homecoming from Saipan.  She told us all about the snake police that kill all snakes on the island so it doesn't end up overrun like Guam, and how you get used to the bugs just crawling all over you in other people's houses.

Alli Robinson was baptized and we spent the weekend in Logan to support her.  She was a doll in her little white dress, and we felt the sweetest spirit.  Jenn, Grandma and I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning playing Scrabble and Bananagrams and laughing until we cried.  It was a great weekend!

Will has finished the first two Harry Potter books on his own!  I am so proud of him.  After his parent teacher conferences I learned he is reading at a 5th grade level, and comprehending what he is reading.  I love sharing this fun outlet with him!  After he reads each book we watch the movie together.  It has been the best.  His teacher also told me that Will is such a good boy, and kind to everyone- even when they aren't being kind to begin with.  What more could I ask for as a mom?  Will is a master builder and has been creating some amazing things with his Legos without instructions.  Building has replaced coloring again, at least for the time being.

Annie is doing so well in school as well!  Her reading has really started to take off and she is where she should be by the end of Kindergarten.  What I was most proud of was that her teacher said Annie is the only student in the class that listens quietly and follows directions every single time.  I guess her class is really rowdy, but her teacher said Annie is the best example and doing so well in spite of that challenge.  Annie always wants to help with Paige and will even get her out of bed and give her a bottle in the morning.  I am so grateful for my little helper!  She loves to cook with me, and will offer to do extra chores.  I can already see that she is going to be an awesome mother one day.  We have been making things with perler beads lately and been having so much fun doing it!  We made a set with herself, Will, and Grace to give to Grace for her birthday, as well as a perler replica of Teddy.  They are so cute!

I just wrote a lot about Paige the other day.  We just love that babe!

Dallas and I have put some of our other hobbies aside (running, shooting guns) as we focus on the home, but there is joy in it.  We love working and learning and becoming laborers.  It's even better knowing that we are actually going to have a home at the end of this- a place to live, and love, and grow with our family.  It will be our little piece of Heaven on earth.

Week 23

We have caught a second wind with this last round of houses and things seem to be flying! We are done building all the stairs in the houses, only one more needs exterior framing, we will have 4-Way inspection on another home the beginning of next week, one home got flooring and cabinets... And we actually know what we are doing now! That is huge.

Our house got a roof and is scheduled for shingle delivery on Monday. Crazy! Speaking of shingling. One of my fellow roof crew fell off the roof of the Baker's house this week. Thankfully he was anchored and in a harness- it caught him about 3 inches before he hit the ground. We are so glad he was ok! I hate scares like that. 

We were blessed with another week of great weather. Everyone else is praying for moisture, and we are thankful it has been get and warm.