It's not all cheeseburgers!

The first picture shows what happens when you are 16 years old and have worked harder than usual. It's early morning and he's just not ready!

The next photo is Pastor, who wanted us to be sure and know that he's "not all cheeseburgers", he was the only one able to move the solid concrete steps in Faye's back yard today! How he did it I'll never know!

Today was the day the tear out of Faye's house started! What a day it was! You just never know what you are going to get in to when you do a tear out! They pulled the paneling from the walls only to discover sheetrock underneath it! We also found out that the front room used to be a porch and has the original outside walls of the house. We discovered that one bedroom had blown in insulation, which is the worst mess when tearing out, thus the reason for masks and protective eye wear and gloves. The kitchen cabinets are gone, the counter top, sink and most of 2 bedrooms and family room. When Mona started on the ceiling in the family room the first full piece (4x8) of sheetrock came down in one piece, quite unexpected! The water was pooling in the ceiling and when her light fixtures came down the water flowed like a fountain! What kept this place from shorting out and burning down is beyond me! The main outside wall in the family room, where the water was coming through, is so rotten that it will need completely rebuilt. But this team worked and worked and worked, through the heat, through the dust, through the dirt, through the bugs jumping from the walls and through the falling pieces of sheetrock! They were like steam engines and just kept going. They will be returning for a half day tomorrow before heading back home. By then they should have the house completely gutted and ready for the next team coming in.

This evening we had a special treat. We were all invited to the home of Jamie and Cindy, members of the church here. They cooked us original gumbo and it was outstanding! I am not a fish person but this was delicious. And then the team surprised Monty with a birthday cake for dessert, complete with Builder Bob on top! His birthday is Saturday and they managed to really surprise him! It was a great evening and so nice to spend an evening in someones home. We want to thank them for their hospitality and generosity! We will be back with another team!

We also want to thank team members Ron and Sherry, who spent over half of today in the warehouse. Ron works as a forklift operator in his job and really was a blessing to us here. The entire warehouse is organized now, food with food, cleaning supplies with cleaning supplies and chemicals far from the food. It not only looks great but now has so much more space to accomodate the incoming trucks over the next few weeks. Thanks guys, we really appreciate all of your hard work!

This team has been wonderful and as usual, it will be VERY hard to see them leave tomorrow! They have also become our family and we have had so much fun together. I have laughed harder than I have laughed in a long time and my sides hurt from so much laughing! We wish them God's protection as they start their 2 day journey home tomorrow. Please keep them in your prayers.

We thank all of you for coming along with us on our mission. Without all of you it wouldn't be possible! Please keep everyone in your prayers!

Until tomorrow ... God bless all of you!! Susan and Monty