Day 8: Day of relaxation on the beach

Uh oh. Someone got in trouble. Not really sure what was going down but something to look at.

The good life!

Enjoying the nice 86 degree water!

Doing a little surgery on Zach because he decided he wanted to spice things up a little and cut open his foot.

Isn't that cute! Yes they actually all 3 slept in the same bed. We didn't get the picture of them cuddling.

Today was our last day and the group deserved every bit of it. We took it slow and slept in till 8:30 after getting up at 6:45 am throughout the week. After breakfast, we were on the beach till lunch and on the beach again till dinner and on the beach till our worship time. We went and got a few skim boards and learned how to skim the water and for the most part had a good time. There were a few ouch moments but nothing serious. Zach Ripple decided it would be fun to cut open his toe since there had been no major injuries all week. That was fun. All in all, this was an awesome trip and the youth did some amazing things. I hope you have had fun looking at the blog and keeping in touch with us. Join us, Sunday August 16th, at both 8 and 10:45 AM services as the youth will be sharing their experiences this summer. There will also be a display booth between services. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your prayers and support to help make this trip a huge success. God's Blessings,

Josh Keithley

Director of Student and Children's Ministries

Day 7: Beach time

Day 7: Our Goodbye to Camp Restore

Today was our last day at Camp Restore. The kids had a chance to say their goodbyes to all of their new friends. Throughout the week each student had the chance to write "Care Cards" to anyone at camp. Each youth had an envelope hanging up on the wall and when you would write one you would just put that card/piece of paper in the envelope. Today when we got in the vans, each youth got their envelopes and they where able to read about all the awesome things that others wrote to them. After helping clean camp and tighty up our rooms, it was off to Gulfport, Mississippi for our fun day. We arrived and had a quick stop at Walmart to do some grocery shopping and then lunch. After lunch we changed and got right to the water. We ended the day with some hamburgers and hot dogs and I think everyone is about to pass out because they are so exhausted. I don't blame them. These kids worked hard this week and really did a lot and they deserve this day at the beach. It is almost time for us to come home and we will be leaving at 12 AM Sunday morning. SO look for one more update and some pictures of our day. We love you all and cannot wait to get home. Jesus Loves YOU!

Day 6: French Quarter- Downtown New Orleans

Riding the ferry across the Mississippi River.

Eating beignets at Cafe Du Monde. MMMMMM!

Guillermo's Spanish Castle. He was very proud.

Dinner at the Gumbo Restaurant. Everyone had seafood. No seriously, I am not lying, they all actually tried either Gumbo, Jambalaya, or Etouffee.

Who knows what he was up to.

Day 6: Our last day with John

The crew with John, his friend Mark, and Pumpkin his daughter was taking the pictures.

Zach being, well Zach!

Guillermo loading up "the gun" to start texturizing.

Someone has to get the compressor started.

A good the way to start out the morning....the crouching tiger hidden dragon....or whatever it is called!

Today was a sad day as this was our last day to spend working with John our resident. Even though it feels like we didn't get much done, we accomplished a lot. We got to spend time getting to know a new friend. They were very thankful for everything that we did this week. Our time was awesome. We finished all the sanding and mudding and ended with a final coat of texture paint. This was a long and tedious job but the final product was beautiful. After a tearful goodbye to John, it was off to downtown New Orleans and the French Quarter. We crossed the "Mighty" Mississippi River on the free ferry and walked the River walk. We ate at the Gumbo Restaurant and probably visited every tourist shop we could. We ended the evening with a stop at the famous Cafe Du Monde with some beignets, french donuts. Both delicious and very unhealthy. It was a long day but a fun one and now it is time to hit the sack and get ready to start making our way home after our trip to Biloxi.

Day 5: Work Work Work

The day ended with another water balloon fight. This time thought they thought it would be funny to attack the youth guy. I think Colonel Hager was behind this attack.

That mask doesn't seem to be doing its job. I was blowing out white stuff from my nose when I got home.

A tired bunch of guys.

Day 5: Lower 9th Ward

Brad Pitt's "Make it Right 9" foundation were he has helped residents in the 9th ward get back on their feet and begin to build 100% energy free homes. These homes are built in 60-90 days. There were some really neat homes that are being built in a different way. Just to the right of the signs, is were the levee broke because of a barge that slammed into it and parked itself right over the homes on this street.

One of the homes that was rebuilt and 100% energy free.

Fats Damino's home and recording studio, an old famous recording artist from New Orleans.

You scream, I scream, We all scream for ICE CREAM! Ice cream on Jerry. The kids were super excited about getting ice cream from the ice cream man.

The steam boat operators home. In the late 1800's, this is where the operators would live and at the turn of the century they were moved to this position about 100 yards away from the river. They used to be located right on the river so that the boats would park right at the house.

Day 5: Tree Climbing

Look mom no hands!

Day 5: Exploring New Orleans

The Battle of New Orleans monument.

A little reenactment of our own. A bunch of good looking guys.

Walt, from Camp Restore, was our tour guide for the day and he was explaining were exactly the battle took place. We ate lunch on the very side that Jean Laffite, a notorious criminal, fought.

Stylin in the park!

What a ladies man!

Day 5: Midway through our week

Hope for Others: Today took a little bit more energy to get going. It is our midway point through the week and we started off the day with french toast, sausage, and spicy scrambled eggs. We got another early start and we were off to John's house by 8:15 AM. We arrived and got started instantly. More sanding and mudding to do but we are getting closer to texturing and painting. John was happy to see us again today as he arrived to the group doing something a little extra. We decided to mow, weeded, edge, and sweep his yard and he had a huge smile on his face. This was not one of our jobs but thought that we would surprise John. We also explored some of New Orleans! We broke for an early lunch and ate at the site of the Battle of New Orleans. This was part of the War of 1812 fought in January of 1815. Here we learned the importance of the battle and how 3000 American soldiers made up of criminals, soldiers, free blacks, indians, and more held off and won against 30,000 British soldiers. The british soldiers had over 2,000 deaths and much more injured and the Americans had an astonishing 6 deaths and 7 injuries. After our visit of the battle field it was off to see the lower 9th ward and the Brad Pitt projects "Make it Right 9." Here they had over 28 feet of water for 29 days. There were over 1800 deaths in New Orleans from Katrina and over 1000 of them were from the 9th Ward. It was overwhelming to see were the water was and the homes that no longer exists. It is going to be an additional 8-10 years before things are back to normal. Everywhere you go people are waving and thanking us for being here and helping them get back on their feet. Hurricane Katrina really brought the community of New Orleans closer. New Orleans is also known as the "Little Big City."

We thought we would surprise John with a fresh cut lawn.

It was our hottest day yet, 94 degrees which felt like 102, and someone looks like they had the right idea in cooling off!

We were locked out and only so many can mow a lawn. Oh the suspense!

On the way and we are already tired. It's going to be a looong day!