HOME SAFE AND SOUND

After a very long bus ride we arrived home at 10:30 last night.  It was great to get home and see our families.  It was one of the longest rides we've had.  There was a ton of traffic when we got into northern Kentucky and Ohio.
We saw our first brown bear when we were coming through Cherokee National Park. Thanks to the quick reaction of our bus driver we didn't hit him when he popped up out of the ravine and ran across the road.  It was pretty cool to see.
We had a fantastic week of working together to accomplish some pretty amazing things.  We all got to know each other better.  New friendships were made and old ones were strengthened.  Although we are all tired and sore we are proud of what we accomplished together.  We learned a lot about ourselves and each other.  We grew in our relationship with God.  We want to extend a very special thank you to the chaperones who traveled with us.  Without them we could never have made this trip and accomplished what we did! Thank you Ms. Bobby, Ms Cathy, Mr. Rybski, Mr. Fatura, Mr. C. and Mr. Z.  You guys are the best and we love all of you!

DAY 4

Today was our day of rest and fun.  We certainly earned it after all our hard work.  In the morning we went white water rafting.  After lunch we went floating down the river on tubes.  Then we went to Field in the Woods.  It is considered a religious theme park.  they have the 10 commandments in stone on a huge hill.  They have a replica of the tomb, the crosses at Calgary, a psalm walk, and many other things.  It was really neat.  We had a great day together just having fun and doing some exciting things.  After dinner we had our awards ceremony, and right now we are having a talent show.  After that we are going to have our last bonfire of the week.  Tomorrow after breakfast we head home, after a stop at the Piggly Wiggly of course where we can get some food for the trip and of course t shirts! It's been a great week of hard work, tons of fun, and building new relationships. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we travel home tomorrow.

NIGHT ON THE TOWN

After we finished at our sites and got back to Eagle Ranch we had 45 minutes to get everyone cleaned up, changed and ready for dinner.  Needless to say, we didn't make it in our 45 minute time frame, but we did get everyone ready and back on the buses in an hour.  Not bad for 58 of us getting cleaned up and ready with only 6 showers for females and 6 showers for males!  We headed out for dinner at 8pm.  We had a great dinner in Ducktown at the Copper Kettle.  Luckily we had called ahead and they were expecting us since I don't think the get 58 people walking through the door all at once very often.  Everyone enjoyed their dinner.  By the time we got back to camp it was 11pm so we all just headed off to bed!

DAY 3, Jobsite 1

We worked so hard today to get everything done! We are so very happy and proud of what we accomplished.  We were able to get all the exterior walls sheeted.  We got the roof up and on.  We finished the interior walls, and the cabinet frames as well.  We also got the door and windows in so the structure is safe, and airtight and can be used this winter.  Everyone worked hard and worked together all day long to get it done.

DAY 3, Jobsite 2

Today was another busy. long, but productive day.  We were able to get the stairs covered completely with roofs.  Man were those things heavy getting them into place!  We completely finished sheeting the inside of the basement ceiling.  We rigged up prop bars for holding the 4 x 8 sheets in place while we secured them because they were unbelievably heavy! We also put in the new window for the basement.  Everyone worked super hard because we wanted to get it done!  We didn't finish until 6, but that's okay.  We accomplished what we set out to accomplish.  Donna (our homeowner) was so happy and excited.  We are glad we could make things better for her.

AFTER WORK FUN!

Today when we finished working we all headed over to the blue hole to cool off and have some fun.  We had a blast swimming and hanging out in the river!  When we got back to camp we had dinner and after dinner there was a volleyball tournament. It was great!  Unfortunately we lost to Eagle Ranch staff.  We think they have an advantage because they get to play every week! It was a lot of fun though.  We are getting ready to have a bonfire and make smores now. We're having a great time here both working together and playing together!