I believe

I absolutely love this video (posted below). I cry every time because of the love that Christ has for each one of us and for me individually. It really is beautiful. He knows me personally. He knows what is going on with my life. He knows my fears. He knows my worries. He knows my doubts. He knows my struggles. He KNOWS. But more than that, he cares. He cares about me. He cares about you. He cares and loves us so much that He gave his life for you, for me, for all of us. I know that my Savior lives. I know that He loves me. With Him all things are possible. Turn to Him today and tomorrow and forever. He is there.

Because of Him

catching up

Here are some catch up photos of Landon that I never got around to posting.

Great Grandma Roberts

Somebody here doesn't like peas ....

His first cross country meet!

Got to protect those ears while mom and dad work in the basement.

Camping

Jonny and I were able to go camping this past weekend.  It was a blast even though it was pretty cold.  We had hot dogs and smores, slept in a tent, and took many pictures.  It was a great getaway from the business of life.  It took us about 2 hours to get there, but we were literally on the top of a mountain.  It was beautiful!

Landon Gene Welling

Well, it's been awhile again ... I hope to change that.  It is great because I have someone to take pictures of everyday and post about!  I love being a mom!  Landon is such a sweet boy.  He loves to grunt, gets the hiccups daily, can sleep with his eyes open and is just beginning to smile! He is 6 weeks old as of yesterday.

Where to begin? The blog of 9 months.

Wow has life been insane for the last 9 months.  I don't even know where to begin to be honest.
Here is a shortened version of life followed by my thoughts on the matter.

This was our lot when we first started the Self Help Homes program!  We were so excited to be getting a house at such a young age.  Now, don't get me wrong, we were blessed, but boy was it also one of the biggest trials for me too.  During the entire building process I was a student.  Now that would sound easier than having kids at the same time ... unless you did the Medical Laboratory Science program.  I had 4 tests EVERY week of school.  They were way more difficult than any other test that I have had in my other classes (including genetics and cell biology).  Honestly,  I am not trying to brag, I just am trying to convey the depth of the difficulties the past 9 months.  From January 5th through June 19th I completed a mandatory internship in order to graduate.  Most days I began before 6 am and was required to stay for 8.5 hours ... for free.  6 months, more than 1,000 hours of free labor was more difficult than I had originally thought.  Now, to add on top of that, I STILL had 3 to 4 tests WEEKLY.  So during this time, I was a full-time worker as an intern, a part time student, and a part time construction worker ... all without pay.  It was one of the most difficult time balances I have ever had and most definitely the longest battle.

So these two pictures were taken on New Years Eve.  What a great way to spend the holiday ... not.  It was SO BLASTED COLD that day.  Every half an hour I had to warm up my fingers and toes by the kerosene heater just so that I could move them enough to use a nail gun.  Boy that day was miserable.  Thankfully this was kind of the "hump day" of the program and everything seemed downhill after that.  

40 weeks

10 houses

more than 1500 hours of labor between Jonny and I

Many cuts and bruises

Countless pairs of work gloves

Many stressful nights

More tears than I care to admit ...

Countless hours of driving from Provo to Heber and back again

probably over 100 little ceaser's pizzas

and our house is DONE!!!

This isn't the most recent picture but I couldn't get it to upload.  The main difference is that we have stairs and sod.  Building a house has been such a journey for Jonny and I.  We have both learned SO many things over the past nine months.  I still remember on our first day there I was told to go get a nail gun ... I had to ask what it looked like :)  It is insane to me that now we feel somewhat competent to complete our basement with the knowledge we have from this massive undertaking.

The Wrap Up

So, to sum things up, we are almost done!  On Wednesday I took the ASCP exam.  It was the most difficult test I have ever taken and definitely the most stressful.  1.5 years of medical knowledge tested with only 100 questions.  Sheesh, it was awful.  But I passed! Which means I have officially graduated from college and I don't have to take any more exams.

On Thursday, our house had its final inspection. Lo and behold we passed that too! On the first go! That was wonderful news.  It is so weird to not have nearly the same commitments coming from both the house and from college.  I'm sort of having a life crisis ;) a wonderful life crisis!

That pretty much sums up our entire 9 months of being a construction worker, student, and full time employee.

On last tidbit of great news though. Jonny got Rookie of the Year award from Utah's Science Teacher Association.  It was such a great honor for him as a Physics teacher at Wasatch High School.

Blessings and Progress

Well, we are officially into one month of building our new home.  I can't believe how fast time has flown!  I have learned so much from my new 'construction job.'  First off, I look at houses completely differently.  Wow, that is A LOT of work to do.  Secondly, I am SO SO SO grateful for powertools, particularly the nail gun and saw.  They make my job so much easier and quicker.  However, the biggest lesson that I have learned is that I can do hard things with the help of God.  Life has been so crazy busy and yet, we still have time to do everything, not to mention the energy to actually get out there and do it.  We generally leave at 6:30 AM and get home between 9 and 10 pm.  Even though I have never been so busy in my life before, everything needed is still getting done.  Somedays I really don't know how it will be possible to accomplish all that we need to, and somehow God makes it all work.  I know one of the biggest blessings in this time of my life is my husband.  He puts in so much effort to make everything run smoothly.  He is truly amazing!!  I am so grateful for the many blessings in my life at this time.

Here are some pictures of our progress.

This is our foundation footings!!!

This is one of the other 10 homes.  This is the one that is probably farthest along.

School and Power Tools

School has started for both Jonny and I now.  Jonny is loving teaching.  He is always trying his best to keep physics fun and enjoyable for all of his students.  I am only 3 and a half weeks in but it seems like a semester due to already having 7 tests accompanied by 3 practicals in the lab.  But life is always busy so what is actually new?  

Jonny and I have officially started building houses as of yesterday.  We were in some pretty hard rain (at least for Utah) but we were still able to work for about 2 hours.  I am excited and nervous at the same time.  It was actually really fun to use the power tools but I am nervous because I feel like I have no idea what I am doing.  Jonny and I are extremely lucky though because nearly every guy in the group has some sort of experience with a part of the building process.  We are all hoping to get in, do a good job, and get 'er done!  We just pray for good weather this winter.  Yesterday Jonny and I also got to pick out the details of our house.  Such as cupboards, siding color, flooring, carpet, countertops, light fixtures, etc.  It was stressful!  My word, I kind of freak out because it is permanent/extremely expensive to change.  But, we are happy with how everything turned, lets just hope we think the same when we actually get the house done :)