Start of Week Two

Our week one team arrived home safely Saturday afternoon and our week two team arrived in New Orleans.

Week two folks spent Saturday afternoon looking at projects and getting settled in.

Sunday morning started off with breakfast at Betsy's Pancake House leaving everyone very, very full. The waitress told us, you come in weighing 130 and leave weighing 150!

After breakfast we took a walkabout on St Charles Avenue by the big, beautiful old homes.

We attended service at St Luke's and had a great time fellowshipping with the congregation at lunch after service.

Most of the team then took a ride to Bay St Louis, Mississippi to see the Gulf. It was a nice, warm afternoon although a bit chilly by the water. However, it didn't stop a handful of us from wading anyway. Wading in teh GUlf in January as opposed to scooping snow? We had to do it!






Tomorrow (Monday), starts our work week once again.

A summary video of Week One

Friday, January 2, 2008

Here's a look at Week One's last work day.

The drywall is coming along nicely.

Mr. Bill looking through the pass through window in the kitchen.

No week is complete without a couple of injuries. One courtesy of a t-square and utility knife and the other tripping over something.

Doesn't the white trim look great against the dark walls?

Back on the roof. After much contemplation and designing, the boys decided they could fix the even steeper roof of the sanctuary at St Luke's church.

Ron & Betty DuFor invited our group to their home Friday night for gumbo. They do this as a way to pay back and thank volunteers for the work they are coming to do in the city.

Cooter The Techie

A whole new meaning to having a "screw loose". Lori's poor computer!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year family & friends!

It's a been a good week so far with beautiful weather. One of the team talked to someone up home yesterday and was told that we had a wind chill in NW Illinois of -16. She told them we had a wind chill here too only it was 65 degrees! The sun has been shining brightly and warm this week.

The roof project is done. George & Shannita's house is coming along and Dale & Shauna is being "rocked." We are excited to be able to continue these projects into next week, especially for George's family as they only have 10 days left on the lease for their apartment. He has a family of four living in a one-bedroom apartment so we are thrilled at the possibility of seeing this family move into their new home.

Last night we enjoyed a "family" New Years Eve celebration with the other team members serving here. There are eight from Indiana and ten people from California.

Rick doing clean-up detail with the help of Lynnette's magic birthday hat.

Wednesday, December 31st

Homeowner George, daughter Geovanna and Mindy.

Working on windows at George's house.

Sue cutting drywall.

Boss man Tom ciphering again.

Audra trimming out a doorway at George's house.

Cindy & Lori buying the groceries for the day. Shopping takes place everyday as there isn't much storage space for more than a day's worth of food.

The roof is finished! Sam, Kevin, Tim & Bradley

The moral of this picture is

-- don't get in the way of Tim when he is making a sandwich. Plastic knives aren't as safe as they seem to be.

Tuesday, January 30th

Tonight's a quiet, relaxing night back here at the ranch. A few people went to the laundromat to wash the fiberglass out of their clothes. Others went to Lowe's to buy a screen door for the porch here at the church. And a couple of others went after a computer I left at the other church.

Here are a few pictures from our day today.

Our drywall crew.

Everett slapping drywall

Nathan, Rachel & "all sorts of angry" Jake



Rockin'

John & Bill "looking busy"


I think we're working John too hard!

We caught the team at the other house having lunch and enjoying the great weather outside. Mid sixties and beautiful blue sunny skies today. Just a tad warmer than back home.

Monday, December 29th

Brad & Kevin on the roof at St. Luke's Church. Isn't this where every mother wants to see her son? 2-1/2 stories in the air? They had safety harnesses on Mom really they did!

Tim running ground crew with his feet firmly planted on the ground. He got real good at ducking from the falling debris by the end of the day.

Sunday, Dec 28th

We attended an awesome church service at St Luke's church this morning, had lunch with the congregation after church and looked at projects.

These are two of the houses we will be working on this week.

This house needs alot of finish work, such as installing kitchen cabinets, flooring and trimwork.




This one is gutted and cleaned, wired, plumbed and partially insulated so a group will start "rockin" drywall tomorrow.


We come down here for construction projects but the time spent with the homeowners and their families is worth way than the project itself.









We also managed to fit in a little sightseeing for the team. We drove down scenic St Charles Avenue and looked at all the beautiful old homes.
After which we attempted to drive to the French Quarter but missed a turn. The moral of the story is...don't get anywhere near the Superdome on a Saints game day!

We did make it to the Quarter late this afternoon for supper and a walkabout.
This is the Holocaust Memorial along the riverwalk.


Time to get some sleep as tomorrow morning we hit the ground running.

I apologize if some of this is not lined up quite right. Blogger is not cooperating! Argh!