yeeeehawwww......

That is how my boys ended the night and that is how I will end this amazing experience :) It was the last worship night and it was a great way to end our summer. We still have a couple of days with campers, but all the real work is over. Now we just clean up and head home. I won't conclude my whole summer now, but I will say that this has been en amazing adventure. God has taught me great things this summer. I will write a longer blog explaining the things I've learned and fond memories when I get home. Today after I finished my last work day I headed home with a great feeling of accomplishment. I did what I thought I couldn't and I leaned a lot along the way! Stacey, Matt, and Matt's friend John went hiking and swimming along some waterfalls in the area. It was sooo much fun, but Stacey lost her camera in the river....It was a great ending to a great workday. Then the staff went to a japanese restaurant and it was great. We had worship and then ate cupcakes. Now I'm hanging out for the last time with campers :( I love you all and thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers this summer. My country boys are learning how to hula and I MUST watch it unfold....

The last full work day...

This is beginning to be really really sad. We went back to build the deck and got all but the handrails done. I think the boys and I are beginning to be friends more and more haha! After a full day of building a staircase we headed home. I got to talk to my daddy! We stopped at a 7-11 to get snack and then made it back to the church. It was cook out time, so I loaded my car and headed to the park. We ate and hung out by the river. It rained a bit, but nothing serious. We came back and enjoyed worship and then had a small party for a guy in the band. He got a guitar and he was so excited! We ate cake and hung out with the campers some before lights out. Now Stacey, Matt, Josh and I are hanging out and soon going to be going to bed! One more small work day!

Well it was a yard work day!

Today I took the guys to do a little yard work for some disabled citizens. I got them out the door with all of our tools and we headed out. On the way as I was talking with Jamey our entire 5 gallon water cooler spilled in the back of my car!! It is now everywhere!! Everything is wet :( There was nothing I could do.... But we arrived safely and got started on our work. There were two small yards and I was really nervous about them finishing before lunch! One yard had a bit more work and it took us until well after lunch to finish. It took a bit more to keep them working because it was very hot and they did NOT enjoy yard work. They kept asking if we were going to be able to go back to building the deck tomorrow. We left and headed back home and arrived home at about the same time as the other work crews. I talked with Sarah and Josh a bit because they met with the Senator for Hawaii today. haha He was at the same food pantry as they were. Matt, Stacey and I went to Lowe's to get a few more supplies for my worksite tomorrow and then it was time for dinner. After dinner we made friendship bracelets with the campers until worship. Worship was great as always :) We had popsicles after service and continued to make friendship bracelets. I finished one for each of my boys on my worksite group. They were so excited haha only kidding. I'm pretty sure they could care less and they won't be wearing them long after this week! I at least made them brown and green for camouflage! Lights out has come and gone and I've been hanging out with staff, but it is time for bed now! Only one more full work day. That is weird to imagine....

It was interesting as suspected!!

Today breakfast happened as always :) My boys disappeared, to go smoke we all figured out as they returned....But I got them going after breakfast and we headed off to our worksite.(side note: I got to talk with Jamey all the way to the worksite) When we arrived at the worksite we just started working! It was great. The boys didn't let me down at all. I had to MAKE them stop for lunch. They will be finished in another day, so we will have to figure out another worksite for them. I pretty much just talked with all the boys as they worked away! They have interesting stories, so please please keep them in prayer. None of them actually want to be here. They are doing it for various reasons, but I'm so excited they came. I had a guy tell me today that he didn't want to come, but now he is glad he did! I would really love it if they left saying they has a great time!! One guy doesn't even believe in God :( I tried talking to him, but I'm not sure how much it actually helped.  Also, I've had to fuss at them a bit about tobacco use. They wouldn't stop dipping no matter what I said! At the end of the I was very happy with the work the guys did! One of the guys rode home with me and we had some great conversation. He was talking to me about his dad and their relationship. It was really great! The groups went off to the shower and Matt, Stacey and I went to Lowe's to get more supplies. Then another event happened. One of the ladies that was helping fix dinner  went to turn on the gas oven and when she lit it the flame blew up in her face! She went to the hospital and everything is fine se only had a few spots of 2nd degree burn. That was a scary experience for everyone involved. We also had a case of lice!!!! One of the girls in the groups had a bad case of lice and after checking everyone in the group she was found to be the only one. She went home shortly after the discovery. We have cleaned everything around her and the room she was in. Then we had a great worship experience. We had ice cream for dessert and the groups had group time. We all hung out and then the campers had lights out. Now it is time for me to head to bed!!

The last week :(

I already love my campers!! The first campers arrived at 7:00 am!! We were not up for their arrival and they didn't actually come to the church until around 11. They came to service with us. After service the girls and I ate lunch at a local pizza place with some members of the band. We then ran errands and headed back to the church to welcome the groups. One group never showed up....odd.....So we only have two groups this week! One from Pennsylvania, who I love already! The other is from Enterprise, AL! :) They are Auburn fans! We ate dinner then got ready for worship. Worship was fun as always! I video taped it so maybe I can put it on here when I get back home! The groups are really energetic so it is going to be a great week! Okay so after worship I hung out with the groups and found out who was going to be going to my worksite with me for the week. It is sooo funny because I have some pretty country boys! They are actually from PA, but they are very country. One of the guys had on a rebel flag t-shirt! They say they are awesome at construction, so we will see! It is going to be an interesting week. They bought a purple bear to be our mascot for the week! They are pretty crazy! It is all boys and one girl with me! I'll try to get some good pictures and video throughout the week. I played spoons with the group and had a blast! Now it is lights out and I'm soon going to bed! One week from today and I will be back at home! Crazy to think the summer is over! I'm going to be sad to leave DC! 

Wild n' Wonderful

Thast is what they call West Virgiani for those of you who didn't know. That is where we spent our day. White water rafting proved to be a bit out of our price range, so we met the West VA staff in Harper's Ferry to walk around and see some sites. For thsoe of you who don't remeber your American History Harper's Ferry was the site of John Brown's raid during the Civil War. It was tons of Historic museums and the main street in the town has cute little gift shops and restaurants. We ventured around the town and it's sites for several hours then headed back to the church that the W VA staff stays at for dinner. Stephanie the camp director cooked us a wonderful dinner of seasoned chicken tenderloins. We hung out a bit and then the staff wanted to take us to Jule's ice cream shop. We decided to leave from the ice cream shop becasue it was getting pretty late. The ice cream shop was actually a small teck from the church, so we were glad we made that decision. The W VA camp is pretty far from signs of civilization......Jule's turned out to be a small trailer type thing in a parking lot much to Stacey and my surprise. The group raved about how good the ice cream was and when we arrived they were very crowded. I had custard and it was pretty tasty. (PS. Stacey will eventually make a facebook album of all the food we have eaten over the summer to show everyone how big of fatties we have been....) After eating and bidding our farewells we drove back to Dranesville. We stayed up talking and then eventually hit the sack! Campers come soon!

A day to remember.....

Today we said farewell to the group, but this is not the reason it will be remembered. It will be remembered because shortly after saying goodbye to the group Stacey and I headed over to the worksite I will be working on next week. After inspecting the worksite we headed to the nearest Home Depot to figure out how to get wood to the worksite to complete the deck. Well after 2 hours of waiting at Home Depot, renting a truck, unloading 23 decking boards, filling up with one gallon of gas, and returning to Home Depot at 5:15, then driving through rush hour friday afternoon traffic back to the church we were exhausted and frustrated! This turmoil of probably the hardest longest day of all summer will be the reason it will be remembered. We had a hard, long day, so we decided to go to dinner and a movie. Our night has been relaxing and enjoyable and at the moment we are looking up fun things to do tomorrow. Hopefully we will catch a little rock climbing or white water rafting, at least maybe some museums. Then Sunday it is back to work! Pray for me this week! I have a challenging worksite!