We Can't Believe It's Thursday Already!

Today we finished up with Ken and Pinky's house. ALL of the brick is off and stacked (hooray!) and new plywood sheeting was nailed on around the house. They gave each of us a brick signed by them to thank us and as a momento to take home. Those bricks mean everything to us, as you probably can tell by now!

Another group of us went back to Susie's house to finish up drywalling closets and her living room ceiling. She was very appreciative of all of our work for the past two days.

John, Curt and Mike went off to another job site, again and did some miscellaneous work on the house they were at yesterday.

Everyone we have met here in Mississippi has expressed nothing but gratitude for all of the work we have been putting in this week. Yesterday, a few of us were at Lowe's buying drywall and while we were in the parking lot loading it onto our truck, a man drove up, rolled down his window and said, "God Bless you all for all of your hard work and everything you are doing. It is very much appreciated." A lady that we ran into tonight said that Mississippi is the "Hospitality State". Boy is that ever true! No matter what type of work we are doing, it is still very much needed. Everyone down here has been so grateful, it makes us not want to go home!



Sherry and Mary pose with Susie and CT at their house.

Brian and Gary work out the dimensions for the drywall.

Mary and Sherry's closet has all of it's drywall!!

Susie helps Sherry score the drywall. Boy did Susie have the home improvement tips for us!

Brian put insulation on an outside wall, prepping it for drywall.


This is a view of a hotel along the coastline. You can still see the beds and tables inside.

We just thought this was a great picture, amidst all of the destruction down here.



More destruction.

City blocks are still destroyed.

This is a FEMA trailer park along the coastline. We have passed many of these.

Most of the properties right on the water look like this, with only a cement slab...

...or like this, just a bulldozed area, waiting for a house to be built.




We found the site of St. Thomas the Apostle. It was very hard to find since there were no buildings to use as site markers.

Here is where their church used to be. They demolished it in January.

This is a view of what their view would look like out the front doors of their parish.

They saved the cross from the top of their church.





This was just a nice shot in their property! :o)

Their old gym was converted into a sort of outdoor gathering area. Earlier this morning they had a mass here.

This is proof, we were there!!!

A sign hangs just above the old gym stage.

Another look of their property.



We had to make dinner tonight for 90 people!! Gary, Mary, Sherry and Brian got back first to start cooking. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, corn, sweet potatoes, biscuits, salad, and.....Klondike Bars! Mmm mmm good!!!

More shots of the chefs!

Carving up the ham, and eating it as they carve!

John and Curt on dish duty. Hey, they volunteered!