HOMEWARD BOUND

Miss Flora-Belle Trehan and I


Miss Myrna receiving her "Bless This Home" gift


Mr. Archie receiving his quilt donated by Mennonite Ladies
(traditional gift)


Goodbye Bayous that we have grown to love

TONIGHT, WE ARE AT A NICE RV CAMPGROUND CALLED "HIDDEN LAKE" AT ARDMORE, OKLAHOMA, AND I AM THRILLED TO HAVE WY-FI, IF NOT A COMPUTER TABLE. WE DID A LITTLE RECALCULATION AND TURNED NORTH OUT OF TEXAS SOONER THAN PLANNED. LAST YEAR, I WANTED TO STAY IN TEXAS AS LONG AS I COULD, BUT THIS YEAR, WE HAD BEEN TO TEXAS LOTS, SO THE NOVELTY WAS NOT THERE. WE'LL SEE MORE OF OKLAHOMA THIS YEAR. HAVE TO PICK THE PLACE WHERE WE WILL STAY TO CELEBRATE OUR ANNIVERSARY TOMORROW NIGHT. MAYBE STILL CAN SLEEP IN THE R.V. IT IS MUCH COOLER HERE THAN WHERE WE HAVE BEEN!

WE DROVE ON I-35 FOR A WHILE SO WE COULD STOP AT A WELCOME CENTRE, BUT WANT TO GET OFF OF IT AS SOON AS WE CAN. TOO MUCH TRAFFIC! THE OTHER HIGHWAYS HAVE BEEN GOOD.

I HAVE SO MUCH FOOD IN THE R.V. THAT WE HAVE TO EAT "IN" FOR A WHILE YET. I MADE BACON AND FRENCH TOAST IN A DOLLAR STORE PARKING LOT THIS MORNING... IT WAS TOO EARLY TO EAT WHEN WE LEFT SHREVEPORT. BOY DID WE EVER SEE A LOT OF BLACK PEOPLE THERE - NOT EVEN ONE WHITE PERSON FOR A LONG SPELL.

TOMORROW IS OUR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. WILL HAVE TO FIND SOME SPECIAL SPOT TO STAY, PROBABLY IN THE WONDERFUL STATE OF KANSAS (ECH). HOPEFULLY WE CAN STILL SLEEP IN THE MOTORHOME, AS IT WILL BE SOON ENOUGH THAT WE CANNOT. WE CAN ALREADY TELL THAT THE WEATHER IS COOLER AND WE ARE ONLY 500 MILES AWAY FROM THE GULF, WHERE WE BASKED IN 80 DEGREES THE LAST TWO DAYS.

WE HAD TWO HOME DEDICATIONS ON OUR LAST DAY, MARCH 27TH. MYRNA'S WAS IN THE MORNING, AND IT WAS WONDERFUL. IT WAS DONE BY THE CAMERON MDS UNIT. THEN THE SENIOR RV GROUP HAD A PRIVATE HOME DEDICATION FOR ARCHIE'S HOUSE. THERE WERE FEWER PEOPLE THERE. WE WERE HAPPY TO SEE MISS FLORA-BELLE TRAHAN AND HER HUSBAND (CAN'T REMEMBER HIS NAME) THERE. THEY ARE UP IN THEIR 80'S AND GOOD FRIENDS OF EVERYONE DOWN THERE. TRAHAN IS A VERY BIG NAME IN THE WHOLE AREA. THEIR SON, TIM, OWNS THE RV PARK WE STAYED IN. HE'S A HECK OF A NICE FELLOW AND WE GOT TO KNOW HIM AS A FRIEND WHILE WE WERE THERE.

WHEN THE DEDICATIONS WERE OVER, EVERYBODY PACKED UP AND LEFT.

SO, THAT ABOUT COVERS ALL OF OUR NEWS TO DATE. WE DO NOT LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING SNOW AGAIN, BUT DO LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING EVERYONE AT HOME, SPENDING TIME WITH GRANDCHILDREN AND HAVING MY SHADOWS BACK (DOGS).

GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE.

"Flexibility" is the word

Today, Jake and John hauled the fifth wheel to the storage place in Sulphur and he tried to use our credit card and it wouldn't go through. So he had to use cash and borrow some from Jake at that. I tell you we have had more than enough with this credit card. So I called them today to find out what the heck is going on. She said the card has not been activated. I told her we HAD activated it the end of January but that we had told them we were not going to use it until we came home. She said she had the record of the call that we were travelling frm LA to Alberta (????????NOT). I had called them yesterday to change our address to back home and let them know we would be using the card today and on our way home.... Anyway, we got it activated and hopefully can use it now. What on earth good is a credit card that never works when you try to use it?????????

We have not been having a great week. We found out on Monday that the Blanchards tried to get insurance on their house and an occupancy certificate. The county inspector advised that the pillars are not high enough. [See photo of Paul on new website update doing electrical work on old pillars]. This is after there has been a stairway put up to the back and a 66 foot handicap ramp on the side(which our volunteers were very proud of because it was a work of art!!!! They both have to come down, the house has to go up, and another 2 1/2 feet has to be added to all of the 16 pillars, plus extra steps added to the stairway and a further 30 feet of ramp. WE WERE ALL JUST SICK. Jake was here at the time, but he was not involved in the elevations, and in any event, is not an engineer to understand what was required. The building was inspected a couple of times and nobody said anything. It was absolutely unfathomable news! None of us are staying to fix it, but the Cameron group had already torn both steps and ramp down by yesterday. That was tough to see! MDS is rectifying the situation. There are no words to tell the volunteers who lovingly built that ramp that it had to be torn down.

We have had to test our flexibility this week. Plans change from minute to minute it seems. First we didn't have a place to store the RV in Sulphur and were going to store it in Johnson Bayou, then a place became available, and Jake had to pull it over for us. Tomorrow we were supposed to have 2 home dedications, one at 10:00 a.m. and one at 2:00. Now they've changed the second one to 11:30, so the Project Managers and their friends can head out right away after that to take the MDS vehicles back to Mississippi for storage and then go home to Portage La Prairie.

Ivan is planning Archie's home dedication. Because of the changes in time, there probably will only be us there (it had been tentatively scheduled for 2:00 pm, but is a private dedication rather than a regular MDS dedication for a new home.

We were going to stay until Friday, but if we can leave by about 1:00, we will go tomorrow too.

I MISS MY COMPUTER DESK AND MY RADIO!!! Otherwise, being back in the cramped motorhome is okay. I should have brought more dishes, as I only took out the bare minimum.

I was in shorts today!!!! And soon I have to bring out my winter jacket...

Copy of second last website update

MDS Senior RV Program update for week
of March 17 from Johnson Bayou
By Linda Braun

Now that Leroy's house is done, we turned our energies to completing Myrna's house.

There were light covers to put on, extra baseboards to paint, and trim to finish. Jake finished the window trim and baseboards. John installed the last piece of countertop for the kitchen after affixing the ends. He caulked all of the trim and did final touch-up painting.

Lemar put in closet shelves and rods and installed the telephone outlets.

Paul the plumber finished the plumbing in the sink and tub in the bathroom, installed the hot water heater, and with Lemar's assistance, installed two air conditioning units. They also ran water into the house to test for leaks, There were none.

Mary washed up all of the windows.

All of the boxes and rubbish from the front yard was removed from the sundeck and taken to the dump.

The only thing remaining for our crew at Myrna's is to clean the floors and make the house ready for dedication. The Cameron crew will be installing the bubble wrap insulation under the house next week.

Archie's kitchen cabinets were delivered and Paul installed the lower cabinets this week.

Paul and Mary had consented to stay a few extra weeks in March in order to see his part of the work completed. They pulled out of our campground on Thursday morning, headed for home in Pennsylvania. We are sure that the side of the road in Johnson Bayou will never be as free of garbage and debris as it has been these last three months, as both Paul and Mary were very conscious of every item that did not belong there. On their walk to devotions they often carried a garbage bag in their pocket to put the garbage in, and it was not uncommon to find them out on the campground seeing that all litter was picked up!

Toward the end of the week, Jake and Verna went to Houston to pick up their friends from Manitoba, Dave and Rose Froese, who have flown down to assist them in closing down the project next week and return the MDS vehicles to Mississippi. Unfortunately, due to bad weather conditions, the Houston airport was major mayhem, and their luggage was not able to be located, so they arrived with no extra clothing to wear for Easter, and no camera.

We have become so fond of the people for whom we have been building houses, and the area, that it is going to be difficult to leave. We are so thankful to the Lord for this blessing to be able to serve in such a rewarding capacity.

HAPPY EASTER Y'ALL

Well, we are winding down here. One more week to go. . .

This Easter Sunday morning, it was our privilege to attend an Easter Sunrise Service at the local Baptist Church at 6:30 a.m. It was quite windy all night, so when 5:30 rolled around, John begged off. I knew that if I didn't go, I would never forgive myself for missing the opportunity to see the sun come up over the Gulf Coast. The rest of us (5) went over to the "Head of the Hollow Cemetery" and participated in the service. there were about 20 other people besides us. They had a little keyboard set up and sang a couple of hymns first (although it was barely light enough to see the words). By the time we were leaving, the sun was up above the clouds and it was absolutely beautiful.

We then we over to the church for some biscuits and Monkey buns an a little visit with some of the people we have gotten to know a bit, There was a piano in their small dining hall and because there were so few people, I felt comfortable sitting down and playing some gospel tunes. Loved it!

The Easter service was not until 10:45 a.m. so we all went home. John was listening to a church service on T.V. and we had a little sleep. I felt a bit chilled even though I wore my wolf coat. I decided to go visit Archie instead of going to church. I took him an Easter basket of goodies. He really appreciated the visit and the goodies.

When the rest returned from church, we drove to Beaumont to the Golden Corral for our last MDS meal together. They have Black Angus Texas steak in the buffet and it is "to die for".

Then the rest of the afternoon was ours to do with what we wished. John and I had bought a new Microwave, as the one in the fifth wheel had burned out. So he put it into the hole and took the old one out. I went over to Myrna's (the last homeowner) and took her an Easter basket, and was VERy glad I did, because she didn't have any company at all. She had cereal and milk for her Easter meal. Her daughter and grandkids live in Florida. I stayed for a little visit and had coffee with her.

Yesterday, I had Rose come over and be my "grandkid" to help me color Easter eggs. Rose was much more artistic about it than I am. Of course everyone knows Linda can't have Easter without coloring eggs. We had a great time and we enjoyed eating them today.

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter. God Bless You all.

Copy of text sent to P.A. Daily Herald re February activities

Fun activities for February-
MDS update from Linda Braun, Johnson Bayou, LA

As our service with the MDS Senior RV Program includes a long weekend every weekend, there is ample opportunity for travelling and taking in the local events.

Ragley, LA, has a small Bluegrass Gospel Jamboree in an old garage building once a month, and our crew and the Senior RV MDS group from Newton, Texas, arranged to meet there to enjoy the music. The main attraction for us was to hear Kathleen Sanner and the Buegrass Gospel Singers who last year sang for the MDS crew every Tuesday evening in appreciation for them restoring Kathleen's home. It was said “she had the voice of an angel”. The welcome we received was like going home. It was a wonderful musical evening, and the band was thrilled to be reunited with some of the folks who had volunteered last year. There were other talented musicians performing, as well as a comedien.

Two of our new volunteer couples for February spent one weekend making the 6 hour trip to New Orleans and were excited to share their experiences with the rest of us upon their return. They had toured the famous Oak Alley plantation from Gone With the Wind, enjoyed a swamp tour, and toured New Orleans, including a most impressive three hour “Katrina” tour.

The rest of us traveled to Louisiana’s Prairie Cajun Capital and enjoyed a Cajun concert “Rendez Vous de Cajuns” at the famous Liberty Theatre which is broadcast on live Cajun and Zydeco Music Radio and T.V. in the area. We also attended an afternoon Music Program at Jean Lafitte Prairie Acadian Culture Centre as well as a Cooking Demo. It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday.

I was wishing our grandchildren could have been there, as they go to Vickers and are in French Immersion. They would have understood the commentary and the words of the songs, which of course were Cajun (French). The Music Program this particular Saturday involved having the Girl Guides in to learn the traditional dances and have fun with some of the traditional simple Cajun instruments, such as the spoons and triangle. It was wonderful to see the Cajun seniors interacting with the children and encouraging interest in their heritage.

That Friday, I had listened to CJWW on the internet, and heard a wonderful Cajun-type song sung by Donnie Parenteau. He would be right in his element on the Liberty Theatre stage!

Mrs. S’s Cookie Factory was in operation for several days one week. Mrs. S. is our friend, Paul’s wife, Mary Stoltzfus from Pennsylvania. Our MDS unit was excited to be the Hackberry Bluegrass Gospel Singers at the Catholic Church in Johnson Bayou on Tuesday evening instead of our Thursday evening games night. Some of our clients also attended for this musical evening. We had the pleasure of inviting Rene and Ruth from Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, who had stopped in our campground on their way to Texas, attend to enjoy the music with us. They had no idea of who the Mennonites are, so we filled them in on our purpose and mission here.

One weekend we went on a swamp tour to McGee’s Landing. Although it was a lovely day for the drive and the tour, t was rather disappointing that there was only one alligator to be seen. We also stopped in at the small town of Breaux Bridges, which has a quaint little main street lined with antique shops.

One Sunday when we attended a church service in Port Arthur, Texas, the Pastor of the Church introduced our group of 16 to his congregation. Afterwards, a very kind, elegant lady approached us and invited us all to brunch at her exclusive private Country Club. That is another example of how kind and generous the people have been.

Extra Excitement at the Home Dedication

Mary and I



John "just before" chatting with Paul, the Cameron Parish Deputy Sheriff



Leroy and Lorraine being presented the "found" item

Well, I had a three-page post to publish (had spent almost an hour typing it) and before I was going to send it, I went to justify the margins, and it disappeared. I was just a little upset! It highlighted the text and then it was gone.


So I took a bit of a break and enjoyed some of the “pretty day” as they call it down here. 85 degrees again today and it is a PRETTY DAY! So, now I will try and recap everything I wrote before…

Started with Monday of this week, when we were putting the finishing touches on Leroy’s house getting it ready for the home dedication on Thursday. Paul and Barb cleaned up the yard and burned all the cardboard from cabinets, etc. and the leftover building materials,. They had a few hours worth of burning there! And the yard certainly looked better when they were done. John and I stayed late at Leroy’s (later than the usual 3:30 finishing time) and then went over to Myrna’s where the Cameron crew (short-termers) had been helping us by sending two men and three young ladies over to paint the house. We just wanted to see what it looked like. What a sight! I swear our 10 year old granddaughter, Keely, could have done a better job. So, because the cabinets were arriving in the morning, John and I took off our coats and got to work repainting the kitchen ceiling and walls.

We were trying to figure out how to deal with the situation for the next morning, and decided the best thing we could do for our sake and MDS was for John to go in the morning and teach the young girls how to paint properly. There were two older men and 3 young girls there on Monday. So that’s what he did, and helped them finish up himself. Of course, the 3 young girls started painting the way John showed them, and did really well. The younger of the men, the crew foreman, was tall and was doing all the cutting in just walking around the rooms. The older man continued painting exactly as he had done the day before… Isn’t that just the way it goes! It all got painted and it looks quite good anyway.

Verna and I swept up and washed the laminate flooring at Leroy’s on Tuesday morning and then went over to Myrna’s to clean up the floors there after painting.

On Wednesday, John put in the kitchen at Myrna’s and Paul and Lamar were installing receptacles and light fixtures. Verna and I went to Myrna’s and painted the inside window sills before the trim would be put on. When we were done, we saw her neighbour out in her yard planting a tree so went over to talk to her. She told us her story about the storm. I had gone into great detail with the story when I typed this morning, but just don’t feel like doing it again!! It’s in my head to tell if anyone is interested.

Verna wanted to see what our motorhome was like because their friends who are coming from Manitoba on Tuesday are going to be staying in it while they are here. So we were checking it out and while I was checking to see if one of the screen windows was open in the front, and the front door was open, I slipped and fell out the door, scrambling to try to get back my footing, and landing, rolling on the ground about six feet from the motorhome, not quite on the cinder road, thank heaven. What a feeling. Of course Verna was watching, helpless, at the door of the motorhome. I lay there for a while trying to assess any damage to my limbs and she’s telling me, “get up, get up, are you hurt??” The grass was quite wet and she was worried about me getting the knees of my jeans wet and dirty. I said “Just wait until I can see if I’ve broken anything!” I managed to get up slowly and determined I only had scraped elbows and bumps. Knew I’d have my share of bruises, but was very thankful to walk away, with BOTH OF US LAUGHING OUR FOOLS HEADS OFF. Not that it was funny, but it would have been one for Candid Camera. She said it was a graceful fall, but it sure didn’t feel like it.

Mary was home baking some of the 10 dozen cookies which were our responsibility to provide for Leroy and Lorraine’s Home Dedication on Thursday.

Thursday was the “Big Day”. Our first home dedication, which turned out to be a lot more than we bargained for! The Home Dedication itself was wonderful. There were about 40 people there, including the homeowners, relatives and friends, the Deputy Sheriff (who is not the Building Inspector {inside joke}), Karl and Laura Dube, Project Directors for Cameron, and some of their crew (including Naomi, who I found out is Ruth Landis’s sister – we worked with Ruth and Ira in Alabama last year), Dinah, the representative of the local Recovery Committee who was on board from the first, Julie, the co-ordinator of the Americorps workers who helped pour the pillars, the lady from the newspaper and the MDS RV program volunteers. Dinah opened the dedication with words of greeting to everyone and to let us know that this dedication was to turn the structure from a “HOUSE” into a “HOME”. She had a brief responsive dedication ceremony. Karl and Laura presented Leroy and Lorraine with the traditional quilt and wall hanging from MDS, and our unit presented them with a little kitchen hamper from the couples here right now, as well as a lovely GOD BLESS THIS HOME plaque from the MDS Senior RV Program. I also presented them with a little 50th Anniversary Precious Moments cross that had been found in the grass near the house and which must have been lost in the storm. I took home and cleaned it up and the group said I should “present” it to them. So I did. The kleenexes all came out…

We never did get to see the presentation of the keys and Bible because there was an unscheduled interruption. My dear husband passed out on the concrete where the van was parked and the Deputy Sheriff called the ambulance, which carted him (and me in front) off to the hospital in Sulphur, where he stayed over night. Scared the heck out of everybody. I did the long version earlier and want to get this over with, so suffice it to say, they took him in because his blood pressure was excessively low and they wanted to know what was causing it. After many tests including heart monitor, heart tracing, echogram, carotid artery and heart and chest ultrasounds, PLUS a stress test with the treadmill, the cardiologist discharged him with a clean bill of health and no explanation for the incident. The only thing he could say was that John was taking one extra medication that he did not think was warranted to lower his blood pressure. So he told him not to take them any more and gave him a prescription for something he should take only occasionally IF he finds his heart rate increasing from normal on a steady basis.

And there is another interesting story. Because Walgreen’s was the closest pharmacy, we went there for the prescription. Before the prescription was filled, I inquired what it would cost. The pharmacist said $54.00. I know that when John got his muscle relaxant prescription filled last month, we saw a sign at Walmart that said “All generic prescriptions are $4.00”. That prescription was $4.00. So, off we went to Walmart, where the cost of this prescription was $4.00. Isn’t that just unbelievable! No wonder the Walmart pharmacies are terrifically busy! It would be interesting to see if there is any such thing in Canada. I think not.

Anyway, John felt quite bad that he had “rained on their parade”; however, everyone was just happy it was nothing more serious. Our new friends here were just as concerned as the old ones!

He was back at work today… to make up for lost time…

Well, that’s enough for now. Maybe will catch a few rays yet before the sun goes down and them pesky mosquitoes come out.

Bye for now.

Hello everyone - this is a big week

Leroy's house

Just thought I'd pop in to let you know the latest. This is the week for our first home dedication and we can hardly believe the house is actually finished. Everyone is getting a little frustrated as we wind down here. It's six months of service for Jake and Verna, which is a LONG time. And we don't think we'll do it for 3 months at a time again - probably just 2. Paul and Mary have also been here for 3 months. Then we have one new couple from Minnesota. He is a cousin of the husband of a co-w orker of mine at Sanderson Balicki....small world.

We are planning to store our new fifth wheel down here for the time being. Don't know if it will be until next winter, or what. We don't have a use for it up in Canada, and have to pay quite a bit to just get it up there (GST & PST + inspection fee + ???) We have to drive our motorhome back anyway and probably sell it up there.

Last Friday, I got a perm at the Beauty School in Lake Charles. Poor John had to wait 4 hours for me!! It turned out very nice. It was the student's first perm on her own.

Saturday, Mary, Verna and I went to the huge Flea Market at Winnie, Texas while the guys worked overtime. I wonder if they'll get paid time and a half, ha ha. Anyway, it's only on once a month and this was my last opportunity. I did find some treasures. Can't believe Verna came home with NOTHING... We did try out some butterfly fries, which are GREAT, and brought home a Funnel Cake. YUMMY!

The group of us went on an alligator walk after Church on Sunday and saw about a dozen alligators. Mary said she wasn't going back to Pennsylvania without seeing more alligators... They have a wildlife preserve down the road and around the corner and they have about a mile of walkway over the bayou, with several lookout points. Also saw a couple of turtles and some snakes. it was a lovely day - we had a picnic, then all went to Sulphur shopping and to Cracker Barrel for supper.

We changed to Daylight Saving Time down here and I absolutely HATE IT! Last week, we woke up at 6;30 a.m. to daylight, lovely sunshine, bright mornings, and this week it was like going back to winter again. Boy, I tell you, if they start trying to promote that back in Saskatchewan again, I'm getting on the major bandwagon against it!!! I already was against it before, but this experience cinched it. Here, especially, it doesn't pay to have extra daylight hours in the evening, because you cannot step foot outside without getting eaten alive by mosquitoes! And you certainly don't want to be opening your door, because a thousand of them are waiting to come in. We have come to think that Len is right about screens - they don't work because two mosquitos get ahold of the screen and pull it apart and the rest all come right in!

Can hardly wait to get home to see my naked dog, Abby. They had to take her in and get her clipped because she had mats and some other problems. Jughead also needed a haircut. That happens when Mom isn't there to keep them neat...

I spend hours on the computer every evening. It's very tiring. The P.A. Herald has been printing my articles and I do weekly website updates plus receive e-mails for Mary from her sister back home. She writes often. Not much, but often. I'm also doing pictures for albums for the homeowners. John says I don't even need my recliner because I'm always in the computer chair. Do love the computer desk in this rig though!

Well, that's all for now. Our love to all.

Last week of February - saying goodbye to volunteers

I should have stood BETWEEN the two cowboys.... Homeowner Archie and
fellow volunteer/Alice's cousin's husband, Bruce Isaak, from Medstead, Sk.

John's buddy, Paul Stoltzfus, on coffee break

Here I am, taping the ceiling at Myrna's house (yay, last one to go)

Myrna's house - interior still needs finishing

Website Update for the last week of February somewhat personalized for our Blog
From Johnson Bayou Senior R.V. Project

Spraying all of the ceilings in Leroy’s house with the heavy texture hopper one day and then the next day painting all of those ceilings with a long handled roller proved to be a bit much for John and he ended up with a strained chest muscle last week. He attended at the Johnson Bayou Medical Centre just to ensure his chest pain was not something serious, and the doctor confirmed strained muscles and put him on less strenuous duty. Thankfully the weekend was ahead so he could get some rest and his muscles could relax.

We had an eventful weekend. Saturday was an outing for all of us to McGee’s Landing near Breaux Bridges, for a swamp tour. Some of our volunteers said it was not really a “swamp” tour compared to others they had been on. John called it a “glorified boat ride”. We did have a lovely day for the drive and the tour. We were rather disappointed that there was only one alligator to be seen. Some of us then went to Breaux Bridges, which has a quaint little main street lined with antique shops. The rest drove to Eunice to see the Liberty Theatre presentation they had missed the weekend before.

Sunday morning, we attended the Presbyterian service at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Port Arthur. The two denominations are sharing one church building at this time. The headquarters of another volunteer organization, the Christian Reformed Church, was on this church's property in a gymnasium. They showed us around their accommodations and photos of their projects.

The Pastor of the Presbyterian Church introduced our group to his congregation, and afterwards, a very kind, elegant lady approached us and invited us to brunch at her exclusive private Country Club. I don't believe any of our group had ever been to a Country Club. It was exactly like what you see in movies. The buffet was very normal though – not fancy food at all. We learned that Mrs. Batty's ancestors were seamen at Johnson Bayou. She offered to give us a tour of Port Arthur and show us any sites we would like to see. Unfortunately, the group that we were with were on their last week of service and time was at a premium, so we were not able to take her up on her offer.

It was the nicest day we have had yet weatherwise – 83 degrees.

Monday morning, knowing we still have much to accomplish with our projects, and there were only 4 days left to work, our volunteers gave it “all they had”.

John’s “light duty” was installing the tiles in the bathroom and laundry room, laying the laminate flooring in the diningroom and kitchen, and installing the kitchen cabinets.

Bruce and Dave finished the bit of siding left to do on Myrna’s house. It was brought to light during the week in idle conversation that Bruce had last year hired someone to do the siding on his garage at home because he didn’t feel he had the time or inclination to do it. How ironic that on this mission, he spent 95% of his time doing siding!!

They then worked at Leroy’s house where Bruce laid laminate flooring and Dave installed light fixtures.

Len and Nettie painted the final coat on the ceilings at Leroy’s house on Monday. Len then put on the window casings and base boards.

Gerry continued boarding the kitchen and livingroom at Myrna’s, and Linda and Georgia started taping the back bedrooms. When Len and Nettie were finished painting at Leroy's, they came over to Myrna's and Len filled corner bead and did some second coat, and Nettie got to work taping. We three women taped the whole house, ceilings and all. M & M's mudded the nail holes and then came back and sanded them down. John worked Saturday morning and finished the second coat except for the angles, so it is ready for the next step on Monday.

The “M & M's” painted doors and enjoyed a visit with Leroy and Lorraine. They were waiting for more doors to arrive to paint for Myrna’s house, but unfortunately, the doors were delivered so late that there was only time to paint one or two.

Paul was busy with plumbing and electrical all week. It is a never-ending task.

Our devotion on Thursday morning was with the realization this would be the last time we would be meeting and we would soon be losing more than half of our “family”, plus Gerry's superb singing voice!

Wednesday evening, we had a dessert night at our RV. It was nice to get together and visit all together for one last time. It was hard to believe it was time to leave already and this was the first time we had a chance to all get together as we had done frequently the month before.

On Thursday, Jake and Verna had returned from Belize to resume their position as Project Manager. Warren (aka Noah) and Carol had filled their shoes admirably over the past month. Bruce and Dave tacked this nickname onto Warren, as he was responsible for listening for severe weather warnings on the N.O.A.H. radio.

By mid-day on Friday, 5 RV’s departed from our site, leaving three lonely couples at our camp.

John and Linda have agreed to stay for the month of March, and Paul and Mary have agreed to stay on until mid month, in order to try to finish our projects. At this point, we are expecting only one more couple to arrive for March.

Archie, the elderly homeowner who lives in our trailer park until he can move into his home, will surely miss Bruce, as he often took him his mail, and spent time visiting with him over the month he has been here. I went over and took a picture of the two “old cowboys” for posterity.