Day 7 July 14   Time to pack up and leave.  We did a little bit of cleaning and packing the night before so the morning pack out went quickly and smoothly.  Loaded up everything, cleaned the floors, cleaned bathrooms, loaded up kids and hit Hardee's for breakfast. 
We left a little later this year because we worked so late yesterday.  We all enjoyed sleeping in until 8:00 and leaving for breakfast at 10:00.  Think we will do that from now on :)   At Hardee's we revealed secret pals.  Loaded everyone back up and hit the road.  Oh yeah, it was sprinkling a little.  I expected everyone to sleep on the way back, but there was quite alot of chatter.  We relived moments and laughed all the way home.  We stopped in Harrisonburg for lunch.  We noticed the big, black cloud overhead.  I guess we outran a huge storm that flooded Harrisonburg and JMU.  We arrived back at church to be greeted by welcome signs.  That was a nice touch!  We got everyone's stuff seperated and loaded into their cars, hugged and went home to pass out :)   It was a wonderful mission trip.  We learned alot about each other and alot about ourselves.  In some ways, the work seemed harder just because so much needed to be done at each site.  We do wish we had finished everything, but we left both houses in good shape for the next team.  They should have an easy time finishing up.  I am so very proud of our youth.  The worked so hard.  We stayed longer at the worksites because we didn't go to the pool.  The food was fantastic!  Thanks for all the casseroles, moms & dads.  They were a lifesaver, especially since we worked so long at the sites.  We could just slide in a couple while everyone showered.    Our "junior councilors" were exceptional!  They make our jobs so much easier.  Junior Councilors are college students who have many mission trips under their belts.  They know how the trip works and they have some impressive building skills.  We love our Junior Councilors!!  We love our church family for all their prayers, support, encouragement and food.   Please continue to lift up our missionaries Linda, Mark and Harry in prayer.  They are meeting the many needs in their community daily, just like Jesus calls all of us to do.    I am going to spend the next day or so sleeping.  I know all of the kids have been sleeping.  And then we will start thinking about next year's mission trip!

Day 6 July 13
     Ok, you already know that it rained today.  It rained every day but Monday.  It's ok though because we stayed cool while we worked.  We ended up having more work than we originally thought.  Every time we fixed something we found more to do.  We didn't get finished with either homes, but we left them in good shape for the next crew.  A couple of days work at both will finish them up.  We worked hard and stayed late to get them done.  A lot of us stayed at the trailer until 9:00 tonight to get the bathroom functional and clean up everything.  It looks good.  Mr. Jesse will be able to move back into his home without worrying about the mold making him sick.  The other house only needs a little tape and mud on half the ceiling and then some paint.  That crew found a rotten beam in the roof that would have collapsed if left unattended.  We didn't get done, but we did a lot of good.  That's all that really matters.  And I have to brag on our kids, they left their worksites clean and picked up.   They take alot of pride in their work.  I take a lot of pride in them.  :)  When we got back home so late the other group had supper ready to serve and the table set.  Wonderful!!  We cleaned up supper dishes and then cleaned the house and got things ready to pack up tomorrow morning.  Then, one more trip to Sonic! 

July 12  Day 5    Guess what the weather was today?  That's right, rain!  Good thing we worked inside all day.  The guys figured out how to put the new floor in the bathroom.  I knew they would once they put their heads together.  The ceiling is taped and mudded and ready to paint at the house.  The trailer  has primer on the walls and ready to paint tomorrow.  The linoleum can go in after the walls are painted.    The bathroom will get painted and and a new floor also.    We are very close to getting everything finished.    We stopped early today to go to Thursday Group Meeting.  All the groups working this week come together to worship and share what work they are doing.  We represented well.  I had send a copy of the Project Crossroads Rap that we did for Charge Conference and Youth Sunday to Linda at Project Crossroads.  I thought she would enjoy seeing it.  She asked if they could do it live at the meeting tonight.  Alistar and Brenda did a great job, as usual!   They negotiated with me; they would perform if we would go by Sonic on the way home. :)    We kicked back the rest of the evening.  Clayton got his fingernails and toenails painted.  We watched a movie and had popcorn.  Tomorrow will be very busy.  We like to finish all our projects.  It will be a big push to get everything done.  We will probably work late to get everything finished.  A few stayed behind tonight with Clayton, Gary and David to get some things done so we could move forward with projects tomorrow.  We are eating very well!  The casseroles are fantastic.  Thank you so much moms!!    I guess I'd better to to bed as well :)

July 10 & 11   Days 3 & 4    Combining the last 2 days because I kept falling asleep while typing last night! :)  It was a very busy day on Tuesday.  It rained off and on all day.  No pool that day so we decided to stay and work longer.  It was a good rain, no lightning, so we could work.  We were damp most of the day, but we were cool instead of sweating.  Actually the roofing crew was soaked, but they didn't mind.  They enjoyed the cooler weather more than anyone!  Both houses are making progress, but as we fix one thing, we find two more problems.  The trailer has mold problems, especially in the bathroom.  We took the bathtub out to put in a new wall surround and the boards holding up the tub were rotten.   Don't know how much longer the tub would have stayed in.  The guys are still trying to figure out how to put new boards in because there isn't any good wood to connect to.  Same at the other house, only in the ceilings.  That crew is putting in new ceilings, but the crossbeams are rotten.  We are making progress though and we aren't discouraged.   I know that Clayton, David and Gary will figure it all out!!  We had to find a new place to picnic because of the rain.  We found a covered pavillion in Saltville.  That's were Clayton and his team are working.  They have been on Easy Street all week - literally! :)   Everyone worked until about 7:00.  We couldn't hold our Olympic games because of the rain and it was pretty late by the time supper was over and cleaned up, so we had hang out time.  We all just talked and the coloring books came out.  I don't know why, but they love to color on mission trips.  I guess it is relaxing.    Wednesday, more rain.  It was a good, all day rain.  The roofing crew still got the roof finished.  They moved inside to help hang sheetrock.  The trailer crew finished up the kitchen splashboard.  The ceilings are all replaced and painted except in the bathroom.  The bathroom ceiling will get painted as soon as the walls and flooring are finished.  We will replace some paneling and put linoleum in the family room also.  The Olympics got rained out again, but here are the standings so far:  Team Djibuti has one gold medal, Team Kenya has one silver medal and Team Russia has a bronze.    Today was Wal-Mart Wednesday!!  We ate, cleaned up and went to Wal-Mart.  Much candy was purchased.   It was another great day.  We worked hard, played hard, laughed loudly and Vicky somehow put butter in my hair at lunch.  The kids are so proud of the new skills they are acquirring.  Katie learned how to put skimcoat on the floor seams.  Amanda used the circular saw.  This is a very hard working team!

July 9 Day 2

Well ,we had a wonderful, productive day.  We divided our group of 21 into two groups and met our host families.  One group is finishing a roof replacement started by another youth group last week.  They are also taking out ceilings and old insulation and replacing them.  The second group is taking out the floor, ceiling and walls of the bathroom and putting in new insulation and boards.  This house has mold issues, so there is a lot of taking out and replacment areas.  We've gotten a lot done today.  The bathroom is pretty well gutted and the .rest of the house ceilings have been painted.  These youth are so dedicated.  They are here to work and make a difference.  We usually knock off work by 4:30 to go by the pool for about an hour every day.  One group had such an insulation mess on the floor and a roof to tarp in case it rains, they choose to stay and work longer than go to the pool.  They finished up what they needed to do to correctly do the job around 7:30.  It would have been easier to take shortcuts or just take a chance that it wouldn't rain, but they decided to do the job correctly.  We had lunch at Mountain View United Methodist Church.  We needed a place for both groups to come back together for lunch and this church was perfect for a picnic.  Beautiful church on top of a high hill with a large shade tree.  The view of the mountains was so peaceful, even with 16 teens laughing and running around in the background!   The grownups even took turns on the tree swings; youth group keeps you young.  A special bonus to the day was Pastor Paula driving over to join us.  She is working alongside of us for a couple of days.  Yes, she took a turn on the tree swings! :)  
     I don't know if you realize it, but the Olympics have already started.  In honor of the "real" Olympics, we are holding our own after supper each day.  Tonight we had competitors in hammer throw (we did NOT use real hammers), javelin throw, standing broadjump and discus throw.  It was loud and contentious.  These guys are very competitive!  I think I am going to carry it over to the workplace - who can lay a straight row of shingles fastest, who can paint a section of ceiling fastest.  Gold (Hershey Treasures), Silver ( Chocolate Kisses) and Bronze ( Caramel Kisses) prizes were given out.
     Later we begin our Bible study, Courageous by Frances Chan.  Being a Christian can mean standing alone and not joining in with what everyone else is doing.  The study is about Daniel and how he stayed true to his faith and did not compromise what he believed in, even when the king degreed it.  It isn't easy being different, but when we encourage each other it helps.  God made us courageous, we just need to claim it!  Thanks for your prayers and encouragement!!  Off to bed, tomorrow is full of more fun and surprises :)

Sunday July 8, Here we go!!  Almost didn't all leave together.  After getting the truck all packed and wrapped with the tarp, Clayton noticed the valve stem on the tire was leaking pretty quickly.  Went to the station to get it fixed before we started out.  Shouldn't take too long to fix - 30 min or so.  Wrong, 4 hrs. until they could even look at it!!  A call out to Lake Ridge Auto and they said bring it right in and we will move you to the top of the list.  We left on time and they didn't even charge us!!  Thank you, Lord for people like the ones at Lake Ridge Auto.  So, off we went.  Ran into a pretty hard rain with wind ( rain was coming straight into the windshield), but it didn't last too long.  Sun came back out,  but it wasn't as hot .  We made it to Project House, which is where we are staying this week.  It's the same house as last year and it is so wonderful to stay here.  We have beds and 2 showers and a real kitchen!  We got here right at our scheduled check in time and all the youth took off running to claim bedrooms.  Once we got settled in, Mark and Linda Stransky, our missionaries, told us about the houses we will be working one and a little about our families.  We can't wait to meet them.  After dinner we had an ice breaker game.  I am the only one awake right now.  I guess the ride wore them out :)  Time for me to go to bed, too.  Tomorrow's a busy day!  Thank you for your prayers for safe travels.   Mama L