Friday was our last day of work at UMCOR Sager Brown. It was a wonderful and rainy day. We finished up our work in the depot and community. We even found out that our youth group weighs over a ton (thanks to the UMCOR scale) --- guess you could say we are a TON OF FUN & THEN SOME!! We spent a little more time fishing (and even caught lots of fish---and promptly threw them back) and went out for a seafood dinner (complete with a fried alligator appetizer) with the youth from St. Pauls UMC. This morning, Saturday, we said our goodbyes, packed our rooms, and took one last group shot, and then told our tiny driver to take us to Witchita Falls, TX.

We did break up today's trip by doing a little shopping at Bass Pro Shops outside Shreveport, LA (Jeb's favorite store) and at an outlet mall east of Dallas. We also picked up an extra person in Fort Worth!! Jolynn joined us to help with the last day's drive. We were really happy to see her and have her help us out.

So tomorrow we will leave here and head home. We have lots of stories to share with you and are very excited to see you all. Till then!!!!!!

On Wednesday our group worked in the morning and then took the afternoon off to have some fun and do some 'touristy' things. We started the afternoon by touring the Mc Ilhenney Tabasco Factory on Avery Island. We were given a tour and shown how the tabasco is made and then we were given samples. (We we even tried some 'boudin' - Cajun sausage and jalapeno ice cream) Next, we headed over to the Avery Island nature gardens. We saw several animals in their natural habitat including turtles and alligators! We also saw some beautiful gardens and a big refuge for the snowy egret. After we spent plenty of time touring the Island, we headed off to Mulate's, a Cajun style restaurant with a live band. Some of us ate crab, others had shrimp, fried catfish, etc. Lots of great food!!

Today (Thursday) we all continued to work in the depot on a variety of projects. Alot of us have been learning how to sew (it's an appealing job to learn since the sewing room is air conditioned!! - Lots of us have learned to sew really well, and a few of us even know how to work the surger machine. We are quite the skilled bunch now. ) After each meal here at Sager Brown, you are required to help as kitchen clean up crew. We all rotate through so EVERYONE has to take a turn doing clean up. Its not a bad job though...mostly we all argue over who gets to work the big sprayer!! We also participated in the Thursday night vespers service. We helped read scripture, lead prayers, shared our musical skills, and serve communion. It was a nice way to end the day. (Actually, a trip to SONIC was a nice way to end the day...which is where we went after the service.)

Friday we will have another full day of work and then go out for dinner somewhere since the Sager Brown kitchen in closed on Friday nights.

Till later ---

FISHING IN THE BAYOU!

Today after a hard days work in the Depot and sewing room, we watched and/or participated in Sager Brown's Tuesday Night Live. (A 'no talent/talent show' ). Several of us shared our talents with the group. Nick showed us some Karate moves, Sari and Corrnie sang some songs, Katie and Patrick sang at duet, and Katie, Patrick, and Emily shared a funny dance routine with us. After the show was over, we all headed down to the dock to do a little fishing. We caught a crab, shrimp, and a couple fish. We also saw a couple gators in the water. We had a devotional and all shared highlights from our day. Now we are all tucked away in our rooms. Tomorrow we will work until lunch and then have the afternoon off to go tour the Tabasco factory, Avery Island (wildlife place), and eat dinner at Mulats (where we will enjoy some Cajun food and Zydeco music). Till later --

OUR FIRST DAY OF WORK. We also had time to make it to the local John Deer Dealer and take pictures on the tractors! (Sorry these pictures got posted late (they are from Monday), the internet wasn't working great yesterday.)

AT THE ZOO in Alexandria...and the storm clouds on the way to Baldwin.

We're Here!
After stopping to enjoy the zoo in Alexandria, LA and driving through lots of rain, we arrived at UMCOR Sager-Brown in Baldwin, LA Sunday evening around 7ish. AND -- After getting our room assignments, learning some rules, unloading the vans, and getting situated we headed into the next town to have a little bite to eat and then returned to Sager Brown to get a good night sleep to start our week off right. Today we began the day by meeting with all the other groups that are here to volunteer and the staff of Sager Brown to go over some orientation info.
Once done, we all headed off to our jobs. Some of us worked in the Depot packing health, school, and layette kits. Others worked in the sewing room making school bags for school kits. The rest of us went into a neighboring community (Franklin) and worked on painting the outside of a house. It has been a great day so far and we are excited to see what the rest of the week holds for us. Some of us already saw a alligator already! (Don't worry though...it was in the water...and we were safely up on the dock! Till later --

Day Two - More Truck Stops?
After a restful night in Amarillo, we headed out towards Longview, TX around 9:30am. It seems that so far one of our most frequent activities is stopping. Stopping to get a drink, stopping to go to the bathroom, stopping to eat, stopping for gas, stopping cause Jeb sees a Starbucks, etc. Luckily there are lots of truck stops and gas stations around here! We even stopped in Witchita Falls for lunch at a Wendy's...connected to a truck stop. We arrived in Longview around 8ish. When we tried to check in to our hotel we were VERY surprised to find that our reservations had been messed up(by the hotel)...after some discussion, we found ourselves at other Comfort Suites in Longview...which happened to be nicer and more convenient for getting back on the road in the morning. Nice how God works those things out for us.
By the time we got all settled in, it was a little late to go out for dinner...so we got to order pizza and hang out at the hotel! We are all safely tucked away in our rooms for the night (Jeb checked again!) and are getting rested up for our final day of travel and our trip to the Alexandria, LA zoo and arrival at UMCOR/Sager Brown tomorrow. We had a great day of travel and are excited to get to our destination. Until later --