Mississippi Katrina Relief Trip - May 31 - June 8, 2008

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Bright shiny faces and ready grins in anticipation of days ahead.

Here we are: A great group of ten.

This day was special for another reason: Jim and Joan celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary! Denny and Marty smuggled decorated cupcakes for the occasion, which we devoured at our lunch stop. :-)



Saturday night was spent in the Days Inn at Hernando, MS - just outside Memphis, TN. We had a great meal at the Guadalahara Restaurant right across the street!

As we left the restaurant, some bright-eyed person spotted a Magnolia tree, Mississippi's State Tree, in bloom. Denny took the prize-winning photo below. The Magnolia blossom is also Mississippi's state flower.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

The next morning found us having too much noisy fun in the parking lot!






We arrived at Camp Hope in Vancleave, MS around 3:00 p.m. Sunday. First, we toured the church.
Then we took a walk, made our beds and arranged our suitcases for the week. Here are photographs of a couple more flowers we ladies discovered on our short walk.

We don't know what this first one is... any ideas?

We were told this is a gardenia.

My Hometown Bunkmates:
Janet and Marty









Kris and Joyce









(me) and Joan













Sunday night's meal was enjoyed at a locally recommended barbecue spot called The Shed. This is one view of the outside the restaurant. Check out their website by clicking their name above.








Here we are indoors (of course you know the photographer rarely gets in the picture!)

The food was wonderful!

Group Photos:

These photos were actually taken Saturday morning before we all left for home, but I wanted you to see everyone who came to work!
Our group of ten is in the first photo.

The first photo is of the group from Tennessee. Next, we're all together!

This is Sally and Kurt. They have husband/wife
managed Camp Hope for the past two years. They will be moving in July to pursue.... whatever's next. :-)

Mississippi Relief Trip

Monday

June 9, 2008

Getting ready to head out for our first day's work!









Team B's house:
Denny needs a new apron! Marty and Joan paint en plein air and










Jim's en plein air plane saw! Ta da! A little "Vanna-tude"










Team A's house
Things are looking up from the very beginning! ;-)










How else would you get sheetrock up there? Larry, Don and Homeowner John










Joyce drills Janet scrapes "cottage cheese"










Larry and Don replace windows Kathy hugs a tree














About 3:30, one's mind turned towards the Big Question:
"What do you think we'll have for dinner?"
Check out Monday's meal! Yum!














After dinner, devotions and sharing how we witnessed God in action, everyone made their way to the "lunch kitchen" to prepare a sack lunch for the next day.

Photos and Comments on Tues - Friday (morning)

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Impressive Breakfast Smorgasbord!

Team B's Family,

their Patio Door project,and Joan and Marty - their expert window demolition team!

Team A's outdoor "Curb Appeal" project - scraping the brick planter, adding dirt and flowers. Kelsey picked out the white begonias. Don't they look nice?? :-)

Time for our morning break!

Kris and Janet scrape the kitchen ceiling, and Joyce sweeps!

We must break for lunch and another round of water!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Team B rips out more windows.
And works on their patio door.

Check out Team A's Living Room ceiling! :-)

Ready to take care of the few pieces of sheetrock needing to be put in place in the dining area.Ta-dah!

Larry and Janet tackled the
french doors right away. Preparing,
insulating and creating custom-
built moulding and trim. :-)

The hallway ceiling is finished! Yea!

The "mad drillers and fillers!"

What's for dinner?
That was always the question
about 3:30 or 4:00 in the
afternoon! This long
buffet was worth looking
forward to.

Kathy's birthday was Wednesday.

When did anyone find time to do THIS? Check out the streamers!Yipes! Man in the dorm!
Actually, we decided that if a fellow comes bearing gifts (such as wonderful
homemade bread pudding left from dinner), he's allowed to enter! :-)
Somehow Denny managed to abscond with a whole pan!

Thursday, June 5, 2008

A little kitchen clean-up after breakfast!

Team B is all over their floor! ;-)
Looking good, Jim and Denny!
Meanwhile, back at Team A's house...

Carley helped with a little sanding before leaving for day-care. :-)

The sheetrock gets finished down the hallway.Don and homeowner John face the door opening,

and put the metal edging in place.

Janet scrapes a bedroom ceiling.

Kelsey primes her soon-to-be bedroom door.

Thursday night was our turn to provide devotions following the meal and discussion.
We "wowed" 'em with our skit... the parable of the sower and the four soils.
Marty was our able narrator, and the rest of us just did what we were told! ;-)

Friday Morning - June 6, 2008

Team B - Talk about a little morning excitement!
I thought knights wore armor and rode white horses!

Now, THAT's a view!

Oh, of course. The girls provide the ballast! ;-)

Actually, team B is brandishing the trim they painted last night... so they can finish the bedroom this morning! (See below!)

Team A's master bedroom ceiling looks great (we scraped off the plaster finish).

Don and John replaced a piece of sheetrock on the wall.